Avowal
by AddriannaDestiny
Summary: There is only one rule during the biggest night of New Orleans, no one goes home alone. Au/meme
1. Mardi Gras

**Author's note: **

This one shot is dedicated to Yana (QueenofKlaroline) as a birthday gift.  
Our shared love for the book Dark Lover needed a proper KC outlet so this one goes out to my beloved bear.

* * *

The street was so packed that he had to squeeze his way between the crowd just to move along in the sidewalk, at this point crossing the street was the equivalent of walking on water but alas the Pub he _really _wanted was on another other street so with a determined sigh Klaus started cutting his way through the busy parade.  
The dancing people kept on hitting him but they were the ones getting hurt, the steel on his carcass made him immune to everything, nonetheless he was elated to finally reach the opposite sidewalk.

Klaus looked up to the balconies filled with girls flashing for necklaces and boys spilling beer everywhere, they all flocked to the best viewing spots claiming attention to themselves and that precise show was a dull repetition that he easily ignored.  
He headed for the Pub in a calm attire, the frenzy around him did nothing to disturb his cool swag and now that it was a bit easier to move along the crowd he glanced up, guiding his eyes higher than the balconies this time.

He caught quite the number of vampires jumping from roof to roof, standing stoically on ledges while looking down on the city they controlled.  
It had to be the biggest holiday for them as well because tourists were abundant, still most of the New Orleans population was bound to disappear tonight, of that Klaus was sure.

Nevertheless none of it mattered to him, he planned on feeding vehemently as well, it was why he was here a day earlier than expected, he wanted to catch the famous last night of Mardi Gras and enjoy a good meal.  
His elected Pub was now just a few minutes down the street and he curiously hinted on a smile when a big group of girls came his way.

The assembly was tight and they were all laughing as if they were close friends but aside from the genuine happiness, what attracted him the most was the detail that they were all wearing vintage dresses.  
He really enjoyed the throwback as they all walked towards him in the colorful dresses that revealed a lot of cleavage, he easily placed them back around the time New Orleans was founded and his mind was filled with images that made him want to grin.

As a first line of girls went by him the second wave of girls was caught up with a street band which delayed them, the group was now reduced to three girls and they were all one prettier than the one before.  
They danced happily with the band and inevitably stole the attention of the surrounding crowd, in the middle of the joyful group, a girl stood out to Klaus.

She was blonde and her hair was wavy and bouncy with long curls, she had a truly mesmerizing smile that was captivating and she danced with effortless twirls that made the music come evermore alive.  
The people around Klaus were sucked into the improvised moving party and danced with the band adding to the trio and going up the street with them.

The blonde in the torrid yellow dress stayed a little behind in her own carefree dance and during one of her spins she noticed the gawking look from Klaus.  
With a sweet smile she buckled her knees giving him a little bow and he effortlessly returned the smile and the greeting that came by lowering his head although he kept his eyes on the girl.

She giggled and then twirled her way up the street to meet the others, as she went by Klaus the smallest spin she gave was lazy so she could catch his eyes again.  
He squinted not sure if she was doing it on purpose but she bit her lip languorously as she danced to the music and for the briefest second it was as if she was merely dancing for him, and it was extraordinary how he imagined her dancing in front of a fireplace in his mind.

Their eyes danced a little equally before she rushed after the others, the candid moment was interrupted but Klaus felt compelled to look after her.  
She was laughing loudly with one of the girls who was waiting for her, they entwined hands and surely secrets that were whispered between them like two furtive creatures of mischievousness but the blonde slowly looked back.

Klaus smirked knowing she was searching for him and his ego boasted like it was supposed to, he turned his back on the intriguing blonde and went for his much-needed drink.  
As expected the place was overcrowded and drinks were going around hand in hand along with the money, actually getting inside the place was out of the question so Klaus grabbed the first guy he found less inebriated and compelled him to fetch him a drink.

A few minutes later the guy returned carrying a bottle of expensive Bourbon, Klaus chose a red car parked near the Pub and sat on the hood enjoying the alcohol.  
The crowd seemed bigger now and Klaus thoroughly enjoyed his drink while the local humans enjoyed the biggest festivity of the year.

He was half way through his bottle when a few girls with those period dresses showed up again merged with the major dancing mass and instantly he searched for the beauty in yellow, he didn't spot her anywhere and his interest in the party was wading as fast as his alcohol so Klaus took the remaining Bourbon and headed up some random street.  
There wasn't a particular flow but it felt like he was going against the tide somehow as everyone seemed to be coming down the street while he went up.

A tall girl slammed right against his chest, she openly flirted with him touching all the necklaces she had but Klaus simply went around her before she lifted her shirt.  
A few minutes later and after dodging a few other blunt hits, someone did spike his interest; the girl in the yellow dress was on her tiptoes trying to see above the main human river, obviously she got separated from her friends and was now looking for them.

She had the cutest frowning face and pursed lips until she smiled relieved, she had spotted someone familiar across the street and called for them but with the loud music it was hard to hear anything and she decided to go through the crowd.  
It was not possible to go far and she ended up bumping into a couple of guys, she apologized quickly but they were all over her with cheap remarks and naughty smiles.

She turned her back on them intent on ignoring them when one of the guys grabbed her wrist yanking her body to him, she was pissed about the move and pushed him away but another guy from the group crassly grabbed her ass.  
She turned to face the jerk who groped her and threw her fist into his face before he blinked.

The action left everyone around them laughing and the guys stunned, the one who had been quiet until now reacted by taking a menacing step towards her but his way was cut off by a big guy.  
She was confused with the emerging view into a rather large back but she liked that the man commanded enough respect for the other morons to walk away and she hoped there was a nice face attached to the big body in front her.

When he turned around she smiled. "Thanks stranger." she recognized the hotty from earlier.

Klaus stepped closer to her with a growing smile. "It was my pleasure sweetheart."

She had one good look at him, it covered everything from his beautiful dirty-blonde hair to some magnificent lines on his cheeks, the fiery blue eyes were striking but his scruff pulled a second long look from her.  
He was so hot that she was happy with the second chance to see him on such a hectic night.

"Although I'm not sure how much I helped, considering how you were on your way to take them all out by yourself." he sounded terribly amused.

"Seriously, I expected the creeps to come out, it's party day and my boobs are touching my chin." she made the cutest roll with her eyes.

Klaus burst into laughter. "Right you are sweetheart." he pointed at her raunchy dress and to an outstanding view. "Nevertheless …" he calmed down. "They should have constricted their hands to themselves."

She had bright blue eyes that started a small flirt with his. "They think this is beads bait but I was tricked into the Founders Float…"

"I should have arrived sooner." he said regretful that he missed it.

"I think your timing is impeccable." she lowered her eyes enough just to see if he would follow her lead when she lifted them.

When he did, they both broke into this awkward but playful smile.  
Although it seemed like they were alone, the parade wasn't stopping at all and a group of people came from behind her, taking her with them as they all moved compact as a pack.

She tried unsuccessfully getting out of the dancing crew but she was losing the battle fast and had no choice but to go along with them before she lost her balance and propelled to the ground.  
They were also cutting her view to the handsome stranger and she grimaced because she didn't have a name to go with the wonderful accent and the dimpled smile.

She hadn't drifted that far though when a big hand grabbed her wrist, she was about to protest when she was pulled out of the crowd and cradled against a chest.  
When her feet found an unmoving ground, she blinked to find him looking at her with the most confident and cocky look she had seen on a man.

"I'm Caroline." she said fearlessly, like she wasn't affected by him at all.

"I'm Nik." his voice dropped visibly taken by her buoyancy.

"Are you a frequent tourist to the Mardi Gras?"

"I have been occasionally over the years…"

"So you know the first rule of a good Carnival night…" her eyes dropped to his lips.

Klaus ran his tongue across a beautiful pair of raspberry softness imagining how it would feel to run his tongue across her red luscious lips.  
On her end Caroline rubbed her thighs together, for some uncanny reason she was thinking how it would feel to have him between them.

Hell, uncanny was an expensive word for simple lust.  
The man radiated sex, everything about him was raw, nasty and _take me now _sex; from his clothes, the chains of a few necklaces she caught, the way he looked at her, his intense vigorous smell, to the way he walked and the power he oozed and that she sensed when he took her wrist.

"Kiss me." she demanded her brain to stop rationalizing with her body that clearly wanted him.

He looked at her like he was about to throw her against the wall and take her right there but his strength was also coiled to fit his demands and by Lord, she was aroused.  
She inched closer to him but she didn't take the dare any further, it was up to him to show how much he wanted her.

Klaus leaned over with a gentle caress of her cheek, he slowly trapped her upper lip between his but he didn't last there and kissed her lower lip next.  
By the time she moved her lips eager to taste his properly he was already breathing into her mouth and for the longest second they remained with open mouths and shared gushes of breathing.

Then Klaus moved his tongue, lazily poking hers, when she motioned her tongue to meet his, Klaus swept her tongue in a slow way.  
He tasted her tongue sweetly before curling in the right way to engage her into a deep kiss that started with his initiative but Caroline was far from letting him do all the work.

She glued her body to his and her tongue worked hard against his, the kiss became an incredible struggle for power, whenever one of them motioned a forfeit the other would claim a swift win by redrawing and waiting for the next teasing moment.  
Caroline stroked his neck and tilted her head aiming for a longer kiss and he did not disappoint.

Klaus powerfully cradled her neck in his hand while he invaded her mouth with a hungry move, he searched for every corner that he craved to explore and tasted the side of her tongue before truly dancing with hers in a heated manner.  
He pulled back his tongue just as she winced in delight and while he rubbed her hot cheek with his thumb, he rascally smirked at her.

Caroline's breath stubbornly tried to get away from her control but she still smiled at him. "Hot, an amazing kisser and with an accent to die for…" she bit her lip. "Where's the big fault?"

"I kill people for exercise." he was playfully roguish although he was honest.

She motioned to bite his lips but teasingly pulled away at the last second. "Are you planning to kill me?"

"The thought of making you scream has crossed my mind during the last minute…" he whispered while his hand felt the curves on her upper body.

As he glided his hand across her waist and hauled her closer to him Caroline moaned. "My house is five minutes away from here." she said before kissing him.

* * *

He pressed her against the front door with a strong body, her fingers were knotted with his hair and she cursed her dress because it stopped her from freely moving her legs, she wanted to wrap them around him and with that in thought, she stopped the kiss.  
It was a chance to breathe and she quickly guided a hand inside the top of her dress.

Klaus' eyes landed there following her action and he was smiling when he lifted his eyes to meet hers, he was pure malice and sex as he kept his chin low but pierced her with a deep pair of naughty eyes.

She smiled waving the key she just plucked from between her squeezed breasts. "I had to improvise with the old clothes."

He leaned forward searching her lips but teasingly he only nudged them with the tip of his tongue and he liked that she sounded frustrated.  
He took the key from her hand and pushed it inside the lock while he granted her a full kiss that left her with weak knees, when they broke the kiss he turned the key on the lock and stepped back a few inches.

Caroline realized he was silently giving her the choice of shutting him down now or accepting what would happen once they entered her house, and she gulped down aware of the man he was for providing her such a choice.

She opened her door without taking her eyes away from him and then she grabbed him by the neck and pulled him inside of her home with her. "I invite you in." she breathed before devouring his lips with her own.

Klaus tensed within those first seconds because she knew what he was and she wasn't scared of him at all, as the notion started arousing him instead of stunning him, Klaus returned the urgent kisses.  
They pressed lips, heating each other with a series of kisses that came one after another and Caroline removed his jacket eager to see what was hiding under the cool leather jacket and the dark Henley.

Her hands felt a lot of muscles on a solid body but he was feeling her as well, somehow she was now pinned against a wall while he kissed his way down her neck, obviously familiar with the garments his hand was sneaking under the wide dress and all the layers that complemented it.  
Caroline gasped slightly when she felt his touch on her bare skin, he only stopped the soft caress when he reached her ass and knowingly outlined her underwear.

They locked eyes while he licked his lips.  
"Laced boxers?" he tried his educated guess.

"They are my favorite…" her reply was easy and bubbly. "And for me the authenticity thingy ended with the corset."

He chuckled enchanted with her adorable way of speaking. "It's a good look on you love."

She dragged a hiss when both his hands went up her torso until they found her breasts, squeezing them over the dress.  
Caroline wasn't done processing how big his hands were and how strong they were and he was already invading her mouth with a demanding tongue.

This kiss had her wishing there wouldn't be so many clothes still between them and she pulled his shirt up expecting to change exactly that, he helped her enough by hauling away from her and pushing the shirt over his head.  
Caroline paused her breath with the revealed sight.

He had a lot of necklaces.  
And a tattoo that started just above his heart and went all the way to his arm, the feather and the flock of birds was the most beautiful piece of art she had seen and she took time out from the heated make-out session to outline the ink with her fingertips.

"That's so beautiful…" she said out loud what she was thinking inwardly.

"I drew it myself."

Caroline looked at him with a teasing smile, he sounded just like someone bragging. "Tortured soul with a bit of an artist escape?"

"My soul is just fine love, it's just not there." he easily answered.

Right, she was having a fast one-night stand with a vampire and there were so many ways this could go wrong that she should be listing all of those instead of undoing the intricate knot of her dress.  
But she pulled the satin piece that was keeping her dress together and once it was loose enough she glided the dress down her shoulders.

It was his turn to admire her beauty and he was serious about it as he took her hand urging her to move away from the wall, the dress now plummeted to the ground and before him was a stunning blonde with legs for days and exquisite ivory skin.  
Caroline was still in her black high heels, the laced black boxers matched the dark tight corset which undeniably made her the sexiest woman he had seen in centuries.

There was a unique feel of innocence about Caroline that was perfectly matched with a sense of wayward that he hadn't quite seen yet; in short, she was hot as hell and he wanted to burn in all of that fire.  
He literally assaulted her lips, Klaus gave her no time to breathe between sizzling hungry kisses but she wasn't complaining at all, she was stroking his neck and answering him entirely.

Klaus cupped her ass and she responded by lacing her legs around his waist while he scooped her up the wall.  
"Where's your bed?" he asked her when she required a little air to breathe.

"First door on the left." she scrapped the back of his neck with her nails.

He made this deep sound replying physically to the provocation and carried her to the bedroom as they were, his hand on her back and her legs locked around him.  
They never stopped kissing on the way there and once inside he slowly laid her on the bed, she was forced to unwrap her legs from around him because he wasn't lying with her, instead he stood at the foot of the bed watching her.

Caroline's tongue flicked across her sore lips while she moved a foot between his legs, rubbing his growing erection with a stunning black stiletto; she was telling him exactly what she wanted.  
Klaus opened his belt and her eyes remained on him as he revealed himself to her, she could have reeled back the dreamy smirk but he was extraordinary.

Klaus was massive, now that he was fully naked in front of her, she could see exactly how colossal and big his entire body was, and she couldn't wait to feel him completely.  
Only that Klaus had bigger plans for now, he crawled his way to her, entangling his fingers with her boxers and slowly pulling them down her long soft legs; unwilling to wait any longer he touched her to find out how much she already wanted him.

Caroline's back sank into the bed reacting to the hand between her legs.  
She felt wet and heavenly warm to him and Klaus groaned anticipating how tight as a vise she would be, like a piece of a puzzle perfectly nuzzling and fitting him but there was still something he had to do before he could feel her enveloping him, he had to taste her.

Her heart and breath shot in a crazy race when he lowered his head between her legs, the sensation of his tongue tasting all of her arousal made her bite her lip so hard that it was white under her teeth and she would have brought blood out of it if it wasn't for the way he made her gasp in pleasure when he began to suck on her folds, flicking his tongue inside of her as he well pleased.

Caroline's hand flew to his hair overtaken by the blissful torture and wanting him to stay just where he was.  
Klaus obliged, hell he did more than that, he took one of her legs and placed it over his shoulder, he caressed the skin on her stomach with one hand while the other became busy where his tongue had been.

Caroline's heel started to dig into his flesh as he drove her closer to a shattering end with two invading fingers that started going in and out of her with skill.  
The looming orgasm was leaving her panting and moaning incoherently but still Caroline took back charge on her situation.

"Wait Nik… not like this." she murmured out of breath.

Klaus immediately halted and looked at her wondering if she was somehow uncomfortable with the way she was so exposed to him.

"I want my first orgasm with you, to be with _you _inside of me." she had a hard time drawing back air and speaking up.

God, he became harder than he was, he was about to explode by just looking at her, adding to her implication that she expected him to pleasure her more than once, she looked flustered and incredibly sensual to him.  
Her eyes sparkled in lust and her chest was clenched inside of the tight bustier, she only inhaled in short gushes eyeing him unwavering.

With a power about him that left her in awe, Klaus straightened enough to enter her with one deep thrust while her leg was still over his shoulder.  
Caroline's bay of delight filled the room as she came hard before he moved a second time.

Klaus stroked her burning cheek, her eyes were closed and she was struggling to breathe, she took her leg down from his shoulder trying to lull from a big high that was shuddering, at first he was simply struck by how beautiful she looked but then he noticed how her breath was really coming out harshly.

"I can't breathe Nik…" she muttered with difficulty.

Easily and quickly Klaus tore her corset apart freeing her from the really tight restrains.  
With a deep intake her chest was filled with air and she quietly murmured a _thank you_.

"You are more than welcome sweetheart…" he wandered his eyes to the stunning breasts now naked to him, they were gloriously round and big and her pink nipples were perky beauties among a majestic milky-white complexion.

"Touch me…" Caroline asked him with a rasp in her voice.

He reacted to the request with glee and cupped each breast with a hand, he looked up catching Caroline closing her eyes and lazily biting a finger when he brushed her nipples with his thumbs; defiantly she was the very definition of red passion to him.  
Klaus' lowered a hand to caress her along her rib cage while he took a nipple into his mouth, gently sucking on it which propelled a fantastic sound from her, craving to hear that again he alternated between licking and nibbling that sensitive area.

Caroline's world went blank, his attention towards the details was leaving her weak and close to a lot of mumbled cursing nonsense; her legs went over his, she brushed her shoes against his skin so she could lose them and all the while her hands made a random pattern on his back while Klaus left that rosy numb spot to kiss his way up to her neck.  
Her nails grazed his shoulder plates when his warm lips rested above a vein that was pumping blood all too vividly for him, he felt her entire body stiffen upon the possibility that he would bite her.

"I won't hurt you Caroline." he said.

She searched for his eyes, taken by the tenderness in his voice and by the usage of her name.

"Do you trust me that I won't?" he brushed her chin with a sweet motion of his thumb.

She nodded while running the tip of her fingertip along his spine, she started just under his neck and only stopped down on his lower back, when she rested her hand there she silently asked him to get inside of her again.  
Klaus did so but only after stealing a long kiss from her, then as he invaded her inch by inch her walls closed up tightly around him and the feel of a perfect union started to hover over them.

She adapted to how deep he had to go in order to fully stretch and fill her and then the feeling of having Klaus pushing so slowly into her was amazing.  
Although he was hitting a very responsive spot inside of her repeatedly there was only pleasure and Caroline couldn't remember sex being ever this good.

She groaned but right after that she released this throaty moan because he hauled a little away from her chest so he could develop this commanding pace that made the bed under them rock with every move.  
Caroline's eyes settled on the man on top of her, his necklaces dangled with every thrusting movement, his upper body was wide and the muscles rippled with every demanding take he made of her body.

She reached out to touch him, cleaning the sweat forming over his tattoo she moved her palm across his heart before she cupped his cheek.  
Klaus felt his face muscles tensing under her delicate touch, he gritted his teeth together because he wanted to pound into her, to consume her with every last bit of strength left in him but something in Caroline evoked care and other things he had long forgotten.

The will to succumb to his predator instincts were coy to the real will to pleasure her endlessly, it overtook everything that was in his nature and even the need to make sure she was all right became a priority.

"Let me be on top." she said in a low but assertive voice.

Was she reading his mind or simply being bossy as he imagined the sassy girl to be?  
Whatever it was, he liked it a lot and rolled them over.

Caroline stroked his cheek while brushing his lips for another kiss, then she sat up and rested her knees on the bed, she started riding Klaus with a cruel slowness that made him growl.  
Her hair began to sway along with her body and she rested her hands on his chest, when her tempo became quicker Klaus closed his eyes surrendered to a pleasure that was hers to rip as she pleased and only for him to enjoy.

Caroline moved faster only to slow down again every time she fully took him in, she leaned back a little while he traveled his hands across her body before reaching her ass and pulling her to him, he started to answer her invitations with thrusts that would meet hers and after a few deliberate rocking moves she smiled elated with how good it all felt and quickened her dance while straddling him.  
Their orgasm rose together as both shared control of how hard and fast they were going, still Caroline was the one on top riding them to a bliss that was pure but visceral like something truly unknown to both.

The final cry out came at the same time and Caroline trapped him within her with a final vise that welcomed his big release.  
The following waves clenching her still around him were a sign that she was experiencing the biggest orgasm of her life and when he buckled his hips up she whimpered because although he wasn't hard anymore, it still felt incredible to have him just there, deeply lodged inside of her.

Quivering, Caroline slumped against his damp body, covering him with hers and she smiled when he held her close inside of a strong embrace. "Best Mardi Gras of my existence…" she panted tired. "Seriously..."

Klaus joyfully stroked her back, his grin was worth the thousand words he chose to keep to himself because the marvelous blonde would soon fall asleep just where she landed.  
And having her relaxed enough to sleep on his chest was the best way he could think of to end such a spontaneous ravishing night.

* * *

Caroline battled with her eyelids wishing to stay in bed all day but there was something bothering her, something making pressure points across her face and with a frown she opened her eyes.  
Instantly she fixated her eyes on Klaus, he was outlining her face therefore causing that pressure that woke her up.

"You are very beautiful Caroline…"

Caroline forgave him for the rude start of her day because of his chosen words. "You didn't sneak out as soon as I fell asleep?" she genuinely sounded curious.

He planned on it but then he watched her sleep and the hours went by unnoticed, with a smile he decided to answer her. "I was waiting for you to wake up."

She frowned again like she was calling him out on a lie.  
Klaus swept her cheek one last time before leaving the bed, he picked up his boxers and the Jeans under her stare.

"Nik…"

Her sweet voice made him look back to face her, she was out of the bed and holding a sheet around her body. "I've lived a great deal of nights sweetheart but last night was…" his smile was so genuine and so innocent that his eyes sparkled because of it. "Notable."

Her smile grew and her eyes were two wonderful shining beacons of light, much like she looked now, wrapped in a sheet with wild curls framing her dazzling face.  
Klaus stepped closer to her and Caroline wanted to touch his chest, to caress that wonder one last time before he left but she was suddenly scared of coming across as needy.

"I want you to touch me." he said looking at her attentively, like he was drawing her face in his mind.

Caroline's eyes shot up to him wary, was he using some mind trick on her?

"I want to remember the way you've warmed my cold skin…" he told her with a husky but honest tone.

"I liked warming you." she cutely said avoiding a blush by looking away from him.

Onto a crack on a very solid shell Klaus lifted her chin so she would look at him. "One last kiss before I leave the domains of a goddess to never return."

"If I kiss you, do you promise to forget where I live?" she teased him almost wishing it wasn't a tease and that she could admit that she wanted to see him again.

"I will leave you with that avowal and my invitation inside this house revoked as well." he assured her serious.

Caroline moved her lips eager against his, she mapped his chest and then his back while the deep kiss lasted.  
It wasn't raw and passionate, instead it was a long soft caress of tongues and tilted heads and when they parted ways from each other, there was still a lasting will to kiss one more time.

This time around the kiss was only a tender melt of lips and he kissed her cheek lastly before he turned away and left.  
Caroline stayed behind touching her ticklish lips just before she shook her head beaming and dropped back on her bed, she pulled the sheet closer to her nose, it smelled like him and she moaned happy that she had that left of him.

* * *

The guy wearing a vest and a flat hat was leading him to another floor in the big manor and while following him Klaus took notice of the ring the vampire was wearing, when they finally arrived to the end of the hallway they were greeted by a handsome bulky guy inside of a big room.

"Niklaus Mikaelson, my sire finally pays me a visit in New Orleans."

Klaus smiled happy to see his former protégé. "Marcellus…"

They hugged each other happy with the encounter, to the rest of the world they were known as Klaus and Marcel but between them there were no such formalities, they were like father and son.

"Did you enjoy the parade I prepared for you?" Marcel joked with a big laughter.

Klaus' smile would have lit the entire city and surroundings, he shrugged barely containing a silly joyful grin. "It was an unforgettable festivity."

Marcel was stunned. "You just arrived, how on Earth did you already get acquainted with the locals?"

Klaus chuckled because of Marcel's accurate guess. "I was blindsided by a feisty blonde."

There was a squint from Marcel who was confused but he knew that was just about the only information Klaus would disclose, he could be a lot of iffy things but Klaus was not one to kiss and tell. "Aside from feisty blondes…" Marcel's smile faded a bit as the serious topic was about to be dropped. "… there was something you wanted from me."

Klaus nodded. "I offended a few gypsies by killing one of their leaders and now they used my blood to trigger my werewolf side every full moon." he tilted his head to the side deeply upset. "I'm not happy about it."

Marcel nodded once. "I know of someone who can help you."

"The same witch that provided the daylight rings for your crew?"

Marcel's features softened up to this sort of proud look. "There is someone very important to me in this community… she's been under my wing for a long time now and she became to me what I was once to you."

Klaus knew he was talking about a parental relationship so that meant the witch had to be not only a true fighter but also very powerful if she meant that much to Marcel.  
There was a pair of high heels echoing down the hallway and Klaus knew he was about to be introduced to the one who would help him.

"I can barely wait to meet your protégé." Klaus turned to the door.

"She's off–limits Klaus, so keep your Original charm all to yourself." Marcel warned him sternly.

Klaus had the perfect comeback at the tip of his tongue but it vanished as soon as the girl came into sight.

"Klaus…" Marcel smiled at the blonde wearing a tiny blue skirt and a white top. "This is Caroline Forbes, she's part of one of the most powerful covens in New Orleans and my family."

Caroline and Klaus stared at each other flabbergasted.

_What even…_

* * *

**Soundtrack: **

Bailando - _Enrique Iglesias feat. Descemer Bueno & Gente de Zona_

Come get it bae – _Pharrell Williams_

What the water gave me - _Florence + The Machine_


	2. Coven

"I can barely wait to meet your protégé." Klaus turned to the door.

"She's off–limits Klaus, so keep your Original charm all to yourself." Marcel warned him sternly.

Klaus had the perfect comeback at the tip of his tongue but it vanished as soon as the girl came into sight.

"Klaus…" Marcel smiled at the blonde wearing a tiny blue skirt and a white top. "This is Caroline Forbes, she's part of one of the most powerful covens in New Orleans and my family. And this is Niklaus Mikaelson, my sire and maker." Marcel then turned to Klaus proud to introduce him.

_Nik... Klaus_. The words repeated in her mind, he was the Original that Marcel had been gushing about for weeks now.  
The ever charismatic and seductive Mikaelson, who killed with a smile and no clemency.

Marcel frowned a bit, they were just ogling each other without further reaction.

"It's a pleasure to meet you sweetheart." Klaus took initiative and held out his hand for her.

Not being one to think slow, Caroline smiled and took his hand formally. "I've heard things about you."

The corner of his mouth twisted slightly into a smirk. "On no account I am one to disappoint my reputation."

She tried to hide her jittery with a small laughter. "I really care for first impressions and the things I've heard are shady because Marcel was drunk most of the time."

"It's my mission to make justice to my name now." he slightly winked at her.

"Guess he was spot on about the big ego." she responded with a scoff.

"Easy on the banter Caroline..." Marcel begged her with a theatrical widening of his eyes. "If you tell him about that time I cried because I missed him..." Marcel whispered next to her ear. "He is never going to leave New Orleans again."

Caroline's soft laughter was done while taking her eyes back to Klaus meanwhile Marcel loudly laughed and stepped into the hallway to take a call.  
Klaus' smirk grew of intensity as they were left alone and he sealed their secret with a strong shake of her hand, before he released her hand Klaus made sure to rub his thumb slightly over her skin, kindly reminding her where his fingers had been merely a few hours ago.

Caroline pressed her teeth together reacting to the friction but quickly retrieved her hand so that their physical contact was broken.

"Marcel tells me that the two of you are close?" Klaus inquired leaving his eyes only on her.

"Enough to consider helping him when he mentioned that this really ancient vampire needed my help." Caroline strongly controlled the direction of their conversation.

Undeniably it made Klaus smile without the mischievous input, much like during their first encounter the blonde was all action and very little conversation.  
His vast knowledge of the human behavior allowed him instantly to know a few things about Caroline, the clear-cut attitude was a careful protection and the unwavering confidence came from being a witch.

"I killed the leader of a travelling clan during an altercation and someone from that lot cursed me…" Klaus smugly parted his arms. "I am a unique kind of monster, they call me hybrid and that allows me to control my werewolf side as I wish…" he stopped when Caroline lifted her hand.

"Let me guess." she crossed her arms petulantly. "You killed a gypsy."

Klaus glanced over to Marcel wondering how much she eavesdropped on their conversation.

"Let her finish." Marcel said amused from the hallway.

"Only a gypsy would be powerful enough to mess with your wolf nature and if they did so, it's because you did something very wrong."

"I had to endure a complete werewolf transformation during the last full moon and I will not have that again." It was his turn to stoically cross his arms. "Every minute counts love and I'm not wasting another valuable second until you guarantee that the spell is reversible and that you will get to it as soon as we end this exchange of information. Some sort of display that you are indeed capable of doing it would be highly welcomed as well."

Caroline tilted her head with a big smile. "I'm not doing it."

His brain strangely took time to fully accept what she was saying, he was not used to hear a clear _no_. "It can't be a spell that unattainable." he released harshly.

"I don't know and I don't care." she simply turned her back on him.

The magnificent view of her fine ass inside of the skimpy skirt did not appeased him at all and he growled upset that she was walking away with bouncy carefree curls that seemed to defy him with every step she took.  
Klaus flashed set on taking the girl's arm and turning her around to him, he would demand attention and some respect while he was at it but Marcel was returning to the room and stopped him with a hand on a firm chest.

"If she said no, there's no way around it." he determinedly said.

Klaus lowered his eyes towards Marcel's brave hand. "_If _she is capable, she is going to help me."

Marcel pressed his lips before speaking. "Caroline doesn't work that way… I should have warned you that it takes a certain way to ask for her help, usually saying please makes her happy."

Klaus raised his head and looked at Marcel directly in his eyes. "I am over 1000 years and able to destroy an entire city within the blink of an eye without shedding a drop of my blood and you expect me to say _please _to a petulant baby witch whose powers I have yet to authenticate?"

Marcel nodded, not in compliance but knowing he owed Klaus a real explanation. "You need a drink."

Klaus wasn't in the best of moods but he needed to calm down, if he left now he would chase after Caroline and things would be ugly in opposition of how wonderful their night had been.  
He followed Marcel into a room that was situated in a more private area of the big mansion, he silently waited for whatever Marcel was gearing up to tell him and he took the drink that his friend offered him eagerly.

Marcel sat on an old leather chair and pointed at the one in front of him, once Klaus accommodated himself he started from the beginning. "Caroline wasn't born in New Orleans, she comes from a small village in Bulgaria, where I found her at age 5 surrounded by dead bodies."

Klaus narrowed his eyes already engrossed by the story.

"From what I learned later, her parents were caught up in an ugly fight over leadership of their clan and things took a dark turn when someone accused them of practicing black magic, they were later executed without mercy in front of Caroline. The man I spoke to at the time lived in another village but he told me that the screams lasted until sunlight. No one knows for sure what happened that night but the only living soul I found when I walked into that village was a blonde little beauty crying in the middle of a carnage."

"Do you believe it was her who did it, that somehow witnessing her parent's death triggered Caroline's magic and that it got out of control?"

Marcel shrugged. "I don't know Klaus but I do know one thing, you do not want to be around Caroline when she's having a bad day." he smiled next. "And you don't want to offend her origins by calling her a gypsy."

Klaus scolded Marcel before having a harsh sip from his drink. "Why do I have the niggling feeling that you sabotaged this meeting from the start?"

Marcel dropped his head back with a loud roaring laughter, when he calmed down he faced Klaus with a strange expression. "I might just want to keep Caroline all to myself."

As an answer Klaus half-smiled at him.

* * *

Matt looked up from the counter he just finished cleaning and smiled at the girl walking in. "You look like someone in need of some Tequila."

Caroline sat on a high stool with a huff. "I need something stronger." she slammed her hands on the counter. "I demand the good stuff bartender!"

Matt was already placing a shot glass in front of her before he started laughing. "What's clouding your perfect rainbow Care?"

"Ugh!" she slapped her forehead hard with her palm. "I make the worst decisions when I'm horny."

A tall brunette with deep dark curls sat next to her. "That's just like me." she said with a luscious tone. "But… the other way around." she grinned while stealing Caroline's drink.

"How was your Fat Tuesday night Kat?" Caroline refrained from gushing about hers.

"I'll tell you all about it after I find out why Bon looks like someone who caught a little more than beads and throws last night…" Katherine grimaced when she spotted Bonnie coming inside the Pub with big sunglasses and dragged feet.

Bonnie slumped next to Caroline's stool and looked at her friends behind dark shades. "I'm dying."

It was in unison the laugh that erupted from everyone.

"What happened to you?" Caroline had lost track of the girls during the parade so she was trying to collect information, which was basically a way to keep attention away from her.

"I found Marcel and his crew and we ended up on some balcony over St. Charles Avenue. I think we played beer pong or something…" Bonnie lifted her sunglasses. "I have this very vague image of flashing for beads but Marcel kept covering me with his jacket before anyone saw the color of my bra."

"The big guy is trying to win some points." Katherine snatched one of the good bottles from under the counter.

Bonnie pushed the sunglasses back down. "Marcel is just…"

"Big." Katherine moaned while refilling her glass.

"... some sort of friend that I find attractive after many, many drinks." Bonnie sighed nauseated with the smell of alcohol. "Beer is forever banished from my life by the way."

Matt warmly smiled at her. "I made you this." he left a mug in front of her with dark hot coffee.

"Thanks Matty." she reached out for the coffee hoping it was the right amount of healing material.

"What about you Caroline?" Katherine turned to the blonde with a hawk eye. "What has you so quiet after last night? Before we drifted apart, you were determined to find the hottest guy in New Orleans during the last night of Mardi Gras and make out with him."

Caroline smiled stalling. "I… kissed some stranger but then the float took us in different directions." she moved her shoulders like she was shrugging and deflected to Matt. "How about you?"

Matt crossed his arms distraught. "I made eye contact with a girl and things were looking mighty fine until I saw Vicki across the street with a couple of guys I hate…" he had a deep breath. "I got into a fight with them and she started yelling at me, in the end she just left with them and didn't come home."

The girls all gave him this _I'm so sorry _look.

"No one is going to ask about _my_ night? Really?" Katherine sulked.

"We don't want the details." Bonnie said on her end of the counter.

"Don't take out on me any frustrating sex experiences Bon Bon." she warned.

Bonnie looked at her through the mirror in front of them. "I did what you told me, I tried to let go for one night and not think about Kaleb, I didn't have sex but by the way I'm feeling this morning, it feels horrible being you."

"Did you at least kiss Marcel?" Katherine poked her with a sigh.

Bonnie trapped a bunch of loose curls behind her ear, she did a series of attempts to speak but then she resigned with a single word as she removed her sunglasses. "No."

Katherine rolled her eyes. "He walks around with a giant sign saying _I want you Bonnie_, and you my little cute friend keep stalling…" she jumped from her stool with a hectic hand in the air. "I'm not even going to touch the reason you're waiting for someone who left us."

Bonnie's sad eyes drifted to Caroline who smiled at her and mouthed an _I love you _that felt good to hear.

Matt who had been busy with a few customers came back to the girls. "My shift is over, I'll just grab my jacket and we can leave."

He knew something was interrupted by the way they were all looking at him but by now Matt developed this uncanny ability of blending in with the girls without actually listening or paying attention unless they mentioned his name.  
He went to the back room checking his phone, there were no calls from his sister but he didn't take it the wrong way because he found her, she was getting ready for her shift and although she looked absolutely wrecked, it was a good sign that she was showing up for work.

"I waited up for you last night." he tried making an easy conversation.

Vicki ignored him entirely and grabbed her apron ready to leave him speaking to himself.

"I just want to know if you are ok." Matt insisted.

She stopped with a slight shake of her head. "You don't have to do this, it's just the two of us in here."

Her innuendo pissed him off and Matt really restrained from shouting. "You're my sister and I was worried about you."

She was tired but that wasn't the reason she wasn't going to answer him and she only stopped again because Matt grabbed her arm.  
Vicki had this strange gaze and he tensed his hand around her arm knowing exactly why, he also knew her need to escape reality was going to be a big topic during the next family fight.

Even her smile came groggy. "It's Mardi Gras weekend Matt, don't go all parent on me."

"Another lame excuse to get high, really Vicki? It's Wednesday already."

She shoved him away upset. "I don't need an excuse, ok Matt? I do it because my life is pathetic." she waved the apron in her hand. "I clean tables wearing this while guys try to grope me all shift and don't play the virtuous brother card on me because you care more about those three out there than you care about me."

"That's not true Vic…" Matt hated when she brought up his link to the girls like a weapon that she cruelly used against him.

"You spend all your free time with them and even if you don't, all it takes is a call and you run out of the house to meet them." Vicki began to yell at him.

Of course that she was bringing up Christmas again. "Kaleb went missing and we had to look for him."

"He got his brain back and finally decided to walk away from your weird cult." she yelled again.

This time it reached outside and their boss opened the door to check on them. "Is everything ok in here?"

"Yeah…" Vicki didn't glance back as she finally left the room. "It's just another random day in the life of the lame Donovan family."

With a rage fit Matt threw his phone against the wall but before it got destroyed Bonnie stopped it, she held it an inch away from the wall with the power of her mind but her smile was the real powerful vision inside the room.

"You love that phone, you nagged Marcel for months until he bought you one."

Matt broke into a smile and raised his palm claiming the phone back with his magic. "Thanks." he grabbed his phone with a swift move as it came back flying to him.

"You offered me a cup of coffee so let me buy you a piece of King cake."

He threw his arm around her and pulled Bonnie closer to him, his rage came from Vicki's constant spiraling but also because he knew she was right; Matt couldn't explain it but the shorty under his arm was like a sister to him, one that he would always protect and that feeling was not differ from what he felt for the two other girls waiting in the back alley.

Blood was important in a family but the link between a coven was like an invisible force that none of them could resist or simply walk away from.

* * *

"How's the headache?" Caroline asked Bonnie sweetly as she kept on rubbing the back of her neck.

"You have magical hands." Bonnie had the last bite of her cake happy.

"And you have the worst puns Bon." Matt teased her.

She slapped his chest leaving his blue shirt all smeared in purple, green and yellow. "Justice, faith and power." she giggled when he grunted.

"Give me that gold..." Katherine lazily said while entangling her finger around a long curl. "Doesn't Marcel have any spells for us to do? I could use a new pair of these." she stretched her leg and the long boots that ended above her knee.

"Yeah Care..." Matt was still trying to clean his new shirt. "I have rent to pay and Vicki stole my hidden money again."

"He hasn't mentioned anything but everyone's been busy with the holiday so maybe now that things will calm down he might need a favor or two..." Caroline ended her sentence with a shake of her head. "Why do I feel like a dealer or a pimp hooking you all up with Marcel?" she threw her hands in the air.

"Because he pays really well for the favors we do for him and we all have bills to pay and no parents around." Bonnie was always the voice of reason, perhaps the biggest link gluing all them together was the fact that all of them were orphans.

"Heads up… Salem wannabes on the way." Katherine whispered with disdain.

The four girls approaching them were wearing a uniform consisting of black skirts, black shoes and black socks, the only color was the white shirt but they had a thin tie that was black as well and that determined the visuals they wore every single day.  
Much to the trio's despair because they loved their fashion too much and couldn't stand a group that had total lack of it.

"Well, well… if it isn't the nomads hanging out in the park." Monique said with a scorn.

Caroline smiled at the _leader. _"We were just waiting for your wonderful passive-aggressive personality to show up."

"We came to play a little Frisbee before heading down to the Bayou, it's going to be really crowded tonight."

Another girl from her coven stepped in to end the sentence. "Some of us were invited by April and her coven." she waved making sure they all saw the symbol on her hand as they all waltzed away.

"An ink symbol?" Matt was actually annoyed. "The party that Caroline organized last summer had a magical symbol that could only be seen by witches, now _that_ was cool." he didn't care much for stuff like this but Monique and the others really irked him.

"I'll just have to outdo myself for the next party..." Caroline started conjuring a motive to throw a big party.

"I thought we were the cool kids." Bonnie said stomping her military boots on the ground. "How come we didn't get invited to the super secret witch party?"

"The Faye are behind this idiotic nature party." Katherine made this visceral sound, the only coven she hated with all of her heart besides the one that just addressed them was the one led by virginal April Young and the one she commonly called the fairies.

"What are they going to do? Dance around fire naked and pray for men?" Caroline shared Katherine's hatred for the Faye, they were a bunch of judgmental witches that shamed others for their life choices.

"Well, good luck with that." Katherine huffed but she wasn't lingering on that, she had pressing news to share and she took them from the back pocket of her really tight Jeans. "Even though everyone decided to be a useless friend today and ignore my urge to share my events from last night..." she tossed her long hair behind her shoulder with flair. "I really need to tell you all about this." she unfolded a piece of paper and spread it over the wooden picnic table.

"This looks like a page from a diary." Caroline inched closer to the paper.

"It's from Kaleb's diary." she tried to be soft and smooth but they all shot their heads towards her. "I broke into his house last night."

"You are… crazy." Matt's statement was loaded in austerity.

"We are missing a witch from this coven, someone who simply disappeared into thin air on Christmas day and we can all pretend that he's just taking some time off and coming back soon but it's been months now and I don't know about the rest of you but I need to know what happened."

Caroline was the first to agree with her. "We all do Kat but trespassing is a little on the edgy side."

"His legal guardian is a drunken sleazy man who sleeps all day and drinks all night, we tried going to Kaleb's room before but he always closed the front door on our faces, last night I saw him out on the street enjoying the free drinks and I took the chance."

"Not even Marcel's men were able to find Kaleb when he went missing." Bonnie said sad. "And I left him so many messages that he never returned, no one has more interest in finding out what happened Kat than me but since Saturday that you've encouraged me to move on and now you bring this up."

"I'm doing this for you as well." she used a tone it wasn't too common in her but she quickly left the endearing side behind when she insisted. "Your sadness is giving me wrinkles."

Bonnie rolled her eyes.

"He doesn't want to be found, we can all agree on that but I found something we didn't know." Katherine touched the lines she wanted Caroline to read.

"_… I found it, I know that I should tell the others but I'm scared of what that will do to our coven. We will never be the same after this, they say that power destroys everything and what I fear the most in this world is to lose my family…" _Caroline read the passage affected.

"Does he say what this _it _thing is?" Bonnie was confused.

"Aside from the endless wet dreams that he had with you and that he described artistically… there's nothing else on his diary that we can use." Katherine informed with a deep sigh.

Caroline's phone started buzzing and she checked on it with a frown. "It's Marcel… I have to go." she was kind of wavering about it, there was a good chance he would be accompanied by the man she spent all afternoon trying not to think about.

"Are we doing anything tonight?" Katherine asked cheerful.

"I need to talk to Vicki." Matt said somberly.

"And I need to sleep." Bonnie's hangover was still present.

Katherine looked at Caroline hopeful.

"I had a long tiring night…" she tried dodging the heat by standing up. "And Marcel probably has something planned so…" she shrugged.

"So the boring witches are having a party while we all go home and sleep." Katherine complained.

"Try not to break the law tonight." Caroline asked her nicely before leaving.

"Crazy…" Matt repeated while shaking his head at Katherine.

* * *

By the loud cheers and uproar Caroline guessed that Marcel was singing and she walked inside the Pub just as he was finishing his performance.  
He stepped down from the stage to soak in all of the appreciation he got mostly from the occasional tourist that found him irresistible, he motioned his hand in the air when he spotted Caroline, asking her what she thought of the act and she wrinkled her nose a little in response.

"Not my best?" he asked as he came closer to her.

Caroline accepted a drink from one of his vampires and staying true to herself she was brutally honest with him. "That song was just for the easily impressed tourists."

He hung his head defeated while his crew laughed. "Why do you always beat me down like that? I was a singer once." he suddenly lifted his head offended.

"Did you compel people to like you?" she asked teasingly.

Marcel tried to stay immune to the vampires around him betting on Caroline to win this round. "I had to compel them to stay away."

There was a loud _Oh _sound granting him the lead but Caroline tossed her head back and had her shot in one take, then she handed him the empty glass. "You could have just sung to them, that would do the trick."

The shift of the loud crowd to Caroline's side gave her a clear swift win and Marcel accepted defeat as his vampires cheered for Caroline, she laughed enjoying his childlike pout.

"You used to beg me to sing when you were little." he reminded her as they headed for the bar.

"I also loved my teddy bear."

"The one you still cuddle during stormy nights?"

It would have been a striking winning blow but it came only when they were alone and Caroline bumped his shoulder with hers, silently asking him to shut up.

He rested his arms on the counter with a smile and taking advantage of the good mood he started a talk that would soon turn serious. "My sire tells me that you refuse to help him."

The tiniest shake of her head hinted to her answer. "You always said that the choice to help you and your friends would always be mine."

"And it is." Marcel was emphatic but entwined his fingers prolonging his reply. "I also told Klaus that I had the right person to help him, even before I knew what was wrong with him."

"And where is this docile lamb with no voice or will?"

He glanced at her only once. "At least consider it."

Out of respect she kept quiet about her utter resolution and started twirling her coven's ring around her index.

"It was a slow Ash Wednesday, I haven't seen anyone today." Marcel struggled to sound casual.

"Even Matt can be smoother than that Marcel." Caroline giggled joyful.

He straightened up. "How is Bonnie?"

His direct approach amused her even more. "She's trying to forget that her boyfriend disappeared months ago and trying to warm up to your charming advances but I don't think she's ready to move on just yet."

"I was asking about the aftermath of all the drinking she did last night." he dropped just as he left her to join his vampires instead.

Caroline turned to spew another flawless remark but her blue eyes caught a movement by the front door, someone was leaving the Pub and she recognized the leather jacket, it was the same he was wearing this morning and Caroline found him leaning against a car with crossed arms when she came outside.

"Your relationship with Marcel is fascinating." Klaus smiled. "I took him in as well when he was just a little boy rebelling against a tyrant father."

"He told me." she kept her answer to the minimal but her eyes were attentively checking his clothes, the colors were different but the style was the same, flawless.

"He also told me about your Romani birth so I owe you an apology for the crass way I referred to your kind this morning."

"Marcel talks too much." she simply said again.

As she started walking away Klaus smiled delighted and shot right behind her. "Is there a specific reason you so aggressively refuse to undo this spell for me?"

"I don't want to do it."

He cut her way by showing up in front of her. "I'm going to need a little more than that love." his lack of patience was visible.

Caroline wanted to go around him but at the same time she wanted to stand there in front of him and forget about the meeting at Marcel's house and just go back to the moment they said goodbye at her house. "Did you know who I was last night?" she confronted him.

"I did not sweetheart." his voice was truly showing how genuine he was. "Marcel spoke of someone who could assist me but he failed to describe the stunning blonde whose taste I can still feel in my mouth."

Caroline gasped flustered and immediately shortened the space between them. "Don't say that out loud, this needs to be kept a secret."

She was so close to him that Klaus licked his lips aroused by her scent and the sprawling images of her trembling naked under him. "Then grant me a few minutes, if I can't change your mind then I will leave you alone and search for another witch." he refocused with a charismatic smile.

She pondered for a minute, then she nodded positively.

* * *

"Welcome to my home sweetheart, please excuse the minor hassle but I'm remodeling the manor for the time being."

There was a small army of workers busy with what seemed to her as changing everything but the walls. "Are you that confident that I will say yes?"

He smirked ever so sure of himself. "We will be more comfortable in the privacy of the library." he waited for her to accompany him.

Caroline left the lobby closely following him down a long hallway and into the only room that apparently hadn't been touched.  
The impressive library was stacked with books that she could count from the floor to the ceiling but instead of the usual dark and somber look the library had wide windows that allowed natural light inside.

"Does the house belong to you?" Caroline searched for his face, she could pretend that she wanted to be all professional about this but truthfully she just liked his face a lot.

"It belongs to my older brother Elijah."

Instinctively Caroline glanced around the library like she was waiting for someone.

"Our time span of existence leaves us weary of each other so he's currently enjoying the dullness of our hometown." he explained.

"How's the weather in Pennsylvania?" she bluntly toyed with him.

"It's always dry in Virginia… unlike the ever sweltering Big Easy."

Caroline started pacing around the library in her high heels, being alone in a room with him again was starting to leave her nervous. "How many siblings do you have?"

"I have two left." Klaus' voice dropped. "It's a cruel reminder that I am the only one truly invincible in my family."

Caroline wanted to stop herself from getting attached but she was curious. "How did you end up cursed by the Romani? They wouldn't mess with someone as powerful as you lightly."

He really enjoyed her astuteness and sat on the edge of his desk admiring the tall girl randomly touching the books. "They killed my baby brother Kol and I exterminated their village entirely."

"You obviously missed someone." she drifted a small teasing smile his way.

"I underestimated the notion of family that wanderers have." he could tell her smile was growing although he only caught a fraction of her red lips twisting, she kept her back on him before she spoke again.

"On my first day of school, I didn't know anyone and I was so nervous that I sat in the hallway unable to go inside the classroom. Everyone ignored the new girl and I spent all morning there watching the other kids going in and out of class, then by lunch time a couple of girls came up to me with a sandwich and an apple. They sat with me and we spent the rest of the day talking, Katherine and Bonnie are part of my coven and they have been my best friends and family since that day." Her eyes sparkled when she looked at Klaus. "Then there's Matt who defended us when the other kids found out that we were different and became part of the coven because he was different too. We all have different notions of family." she ended with easiness.

"I see that a coven resembles a wolf pack, the union there is as sacred as one of a blood family or one born after a close bonding process like it so often happens with wolves." Klaus couldn't keep his eyes away from her, the fascination was extending to all the nuances she was exposing to him. "The coven is your family." Klaus concluded that Caroline and Marcel had very different views of their consanguinity.

Caroline took a book from the shelf merely to keep her hands busy. "How much did Marcel tell you about me?"

"Enough to have me intrigued, so much that I…" he stopped to build the moment, there was a knock on the door and then a man came inside holding a small envelope for him. "… had a few resources working relentlessly today." he carried on happy with what he found inside the envelope.

As the unknown man left Caroline froze because Klaus came to her with a picture in his hand. "What's that?" her mouth was dry and she licked her glossy lips wary.

"I assume Marcellus doesn't speak much about the day he found you."

"He says that it's not good to stir up the past."

"But you don't believe that, do you love?" Klaus silently moaned while reaching out to gently brush her cheek with the back of his hand. "You can't let it go just like that because you are a free spirit…" he brought his gentle touch near her lips and tickled the corner of her mouth lusting to do it with his tongue instead. "Simply untamed to the core." he described her perfectly.

Caroline's breath was as hoarse as his husky voice and for the first time all day, she wasn't hostile towards him; she was the girl from the previous night, the one who demanded to be loved with passion and in her own terms. "I can't remember what happened that day or anything before I arrived to New Orleans with Marcel." she gazed into his eyes hoping to find an answer in all of that blazing blue.

Klaus handed her a worn-out picture, at first she was consumed by disappointment because of the large number of people in the frame but then among all the huge assemble someone stood out to her.  
Sitting in one of the wagons was a beautiful blonde with long hair holding a baby girl with an adorable smile, standing on the ground and next to the horses was a tall man with a big smile and Caroline felt her heart wrap in sorrow and anxiety.

She knew those faces, they often hunted her dreams and strange flashes that she suspected to be repressed memories of her mother and father.  
Or what she feared the most, compulsion.

"If you help me end this curse of mine, I will not rest until I unravel what went down the day your clan was killed and why you were the only survivor of a bloodbath." he spoke in this alluring low voice that made her look up.

"This has to be kept between us, my coven can't know about it and Marcel can't even suspect that we are doing this." she whispered.

"I can already tell that scandalous secrets will be our thing."

She hadn't even noticed his move, somehow both of his hands were now warming the sides of her neck and with a single shift of her body Caroline inched closer to him, candidly he was not excepting it but he loved how his body reacted to her proximity.

"I know that you are this really old guy Nik but a one-night stand means that it was one night only." Caroline pressed the book she was holding against his chest and for the second time today walked away with bouncy curls and a brazen attitude.

This time he was enthralled and smiled broadly.

The man from before came back to the room. "Do you have orders for the rest of the night Klaus?"

"Yes Josh." Klaus handed the book to his minion. "Have that gift-wrapped and delivered at Caroline Forbes' address."

Josh was now holding the first copy of _**Anna** **Karenina**_.

* * *

**Soundtrack: **

I followed fires – Mathew & the Atlas

Just because – _Jane's Addiction _

The days - _Avicii_

How do you like me now - _The Heavy_

Beggin for thread – BANKS


	3. Wicked hearts

Slamming the front door shut and then some lively conversation.  
Those were the noises that woke her up and Caroline hid her face in the pillow hating it, people just had a problem with letting her sleep undisturbed in the morning.

There was music now so it became obvious that they weren't going anywhere, with a big sulking grunt Caroline pushed the sheet away and left the bed with one eye closed and the other open.  
She headed for the kitchen picking up her hair in a careless ponytail.

"Good morning Care." Bonnie was the first to greet her with a smile.

She constricted her response to a simple wave and slouched on a chair looking at Katherine with her head shoved inside of the fridge.

"You are out of milk." Katherine closed the fridge upset.

"I have it covered." Matt said coming in from the kitchen door with a bottle of milk.

Bonnie was already placing the bowls for cereal and spoons for everyone and Caroline sleepily smiled at Matt who sat next to her after taking his jacket off.

"I got you a beignet." he hadn't forgotten her.

Caroline reached for it with a grin, they were the best part of any breakfast and she indulged in it accompanied by the best coffee in New Orleans, Bonnie's. "No one prepares breakfast like you Bon." she licked her lips covered in sugar.

Bonnie handed the bottle of milk to Matt with a smile, it was all made with love.

"Were you dodging the cops last night?" Matt asked Katherine just before he dived into a huge bowl of crunchy cereal.

She lazily smiled. "Not at all, I hooked up with one of Marcel's men." When Bonnie dubiously looked at her she ran a finger across the skin that her raunchy top was showing. "Vampires are extremely good lovers."

Caroline kept her eyes on the coffee in front of her.

"I kissed a girl from his crew once…" Matt munched on his cereal reminiscent. "That was awesome."

"Wasn't that the one who tried to drain you in the parking lot of Tulane?" Katherine asked him with a pointy finger that stood out from the mug she was holding.

"Yeah…" Matt had another mouthful of cereal. "Thanks for reminding me of that."

"Speaking of Tulane." Caroline woke to the conversation before somehow the topic shifted towards her. "Classes start today."

"I'm taking the rest of the week off." Katherine quickly said. "It's my own Mardi Gras holiday break."

"I have to work today, I couldn't get anyone to do my shift." Matt hated college anyway.

Caroline looked at the only reliable source in the group.

"I've already been on Campus today, I missed my room and my books." Bonnie had a small look around the table and answered the tamed smiles with a huff. "Somebody call the boring police, it's Bonnie Bennett, the girl who lives at Campus and works in the library."

"You're so precious…" Katherine cutely said while padding Bonnie's wild natural curls.

Bonnie knew that was somewhere between an insult and a compliment but she was used to Katherine's ways. "I have a few things to do so I will meet you later in the university." she spoke to Caroline while grabbing her bag.

Caroline and the others waved at her as she left to start her day, they didn't ask about her chores because they knew her ritual well.  
First she bought 3 roses in the usual flower shop, then she headed for the cemetery where she left one rose at her parents tombstone and two at her Gram's.

It was there that she lingered, picking up the old flowers while telling Sheila about her friends and how there were no news of Kaleb yet.  
During the carefree speech Bonnie sensed someone else in the cemetery and swiftly she stood up searching for the presence, although she couldn't see anyone, she knew she wasn't alone.

She avoided the usual _Hello _shouted across the field of graves but she tried feeling the energy around her in case the presence was supernatural, it wasn't a clear no but it started fading which meant that whoever it was, was leaving the cemetery.  
She also left shortly after that and took a few known shortcuts to Maple Street; the second part of her morning ritual made her chuckle, Marcel was _casually _having a drink in one of the tables outside the Pub where Matt worked.

"Back to Criminal Justice today?" he asked her across the street.

Bonnie smiled as she made way to him. "I might need a little help with my Criminology assignment."

"You need to search no further." Marcel laughed in his natural loud way.

Bonnie drifted curious to his left side, she didn't know the other man sitting at the table with him.

"Klaus Mikaelson." he introduced himself with a charming smile.

Bonnie half-closed her eyes. "You are Marcel's sire, right?"

"I love how famous I am around here." Klaus delectably had his drink.

"Marcel gushes about you every time he gets drunk but he described you as the English version of Brad Pit in _Interview with the Vampire_." Bonnie tilted her head with a squint.

Klaus looked at Marcel slowly.

"It was… the long blonde hair and…" he pressed his lips steering a look to Bonnie. "Thank you for embarrassing me."

She laughed.

"I'm much prettier than… _Brad_." Klaus pretended to be offended.

Bonnie loved the fun moment but she had obligations. "I've caused enough damage so I'm going to leave now and try to get some education." she sweetly smiled at Marcel before leaving.

He followed the gentle swing of her flowing floral skirt as she walked away, the white sweater falling down her shoulder and then what always caught his attention, her beautiful legs and the cute ankle military boots that were a trademark to Bonnie's look.

"You fancy her." Klaus was almost dazed.

Marcel cleared his throat and immediately looked away from the girl and to the older vampire. "She's part of Caroline's coven."

Klaus had his drink with a cutting smile.

"She's very pretty." Marcel mumbled into a drink he had in one take.

"Yes, they seem to pop everywhere I turn in this city." Klaus was still amused.

"But she's more than just a pretty human, they all are."

Klaus widened his eyes and picked up the bottle. "This looms as something long to tell."

Marcel dragged his glass now refilled closer to him. "Bonnie's parents died when she was still a baby so she was raised by her grandmother Sheila Bennett. Now that was another very attractive Bennett and she was also part of a powerful coven…"

"Naturally." Klaus interrupted his friend rudely.

"And she was killed during a harvest that went very wrong."

"Ah!" Klaus exclaimed. "New Orleans and its vast glossary of occult terms."

Marcel didn't mind the explanation, he build his empire right in the heart of mystical NOLA and he knew everything that happened whether it was related to witchcraft or not. "A Coven is a fascination affair, it's nothing but power converged together by a group of people but the real kick is that it takes a little more than just claiming to be part of a coven. A link can be forged but when tested it can be broken."

"I know what a harvest is Marcel." Klaus ended his glee elated, as if he was one to visit without knowing the waters he was sailing. "Every blue moon the supernatural energy in the city rises up to uncharted highs and all covens are summoned before the Elder Witches of New Orleans where they must prove their bond as a true coven."

Marcel raised his glass for a toast validating Klaus' knowledge. "During one night every coven in the city is tested and the ability to perform magic as individuals is taken away from them, they are linked and forced to stay that way for one night. If their bond is strong enough then by dawn their individual powers will be restored, if not…" Marcel had his drink.

"So what happened to Sheila Bennett?" Klaus inquired.

"Magic isn't the only thing that they have to share that night…" Marcel wanted a refill from his drink so he left the glass on the table while resting his arms there. "They also have to share every single thought they ever had."

"I predict a dramatic unrequited love story in the midst." Klaus did the honors with the bottle.

Marcel nodded. "Sheila was the only woman in her coven and she was in love with someone outside the coven, it wouldn't be a problem if Kai, one of the warlocks in her coven wasn't obsessed with her. When harvest night ended, they found Sheila's body floating in the river and Kai was never seen again."

"It's impossible not to love New Orleans." Klaus mused.

"Either way, Bonnie has been alone most of her life and she's a fighter that one but there's also this strange vulnerability about her…" Marcel wanted to explain what he saw in Bonnie but she was ultimately too complex to narrow down into words.

"So you fancy her?" Klaus repeated his first question with a laugh.

Marcel grumbled a couple of noises that turned out to be obscenities in another language.

"Good to see that your Chinese is still unfussy." Klaus joked departing from the easy lazy talk.

"I'm hosting a party for you tonight." Marcel informed his friend.

"I might be occupied but I appreciate the gesture." Klaus was planning on convincing Caroline to start working on his problem today, time was unfortunately an issue for him as the countdown to full moon hovered like a bad hex.

Marcel leaned back on his chair. "When I throw a party I expect my guests to show up, it's a rule."

"Since when rules became something to take into account?"

"I own the French Quarter Klaus, my vampires feed without a single yell erupting from the shocked humans because I taught them to look the other way, I also keep the witches on a tight chain. I know that Caroline refused to help you but I'm working on a second option, she's just not as willing to help as Caroline usually is so I will need a little time..." he widened his smile. "While we wait, we party."

Now Klaus was curious about Marcel's backup plan. "The Governor was a splendid greedy man who invited my family to stay in his house in exchange for gold, I always did enjoy the parties we lavishly gave every night. I'm curious to see if you can outdo us."

Marcel ended the drinking spree by turning his glass upside down on the table. "It's my house now Klaus and no one kills without my permission."

Klaus pursed his lips with a narrow of his eyes. "Don't be bitter Marcellus, it was only a small sting." he smirked lastly before strutting away.

He kept the smile as he walked down the street but he pulled the dimples when he blocked the way of a girl slowly walking and terribly entertained with a book. "The Russian is not a problem?" he was so baffled that she was actually reading the book without translation.

Caroline lifted her eyes from the enthralling novel. "I know at least 10 different languages."

"I taught Marcel 11." Klaus gave her an adorable side look. "I would demand him an explanation."

Caroline closed the book with one swift move and dropped it into her bag. "I didn't want to learn Old Norse, I found it boring."

Klaus gushed out an appalled gasp. "Are you experienced in the arts of torture as well?"

She easily had this cute small laugh because his expression was priceless. "There's so much about me to know and so little time." she went around him decided.

"That's quite the statement but I consider myself outspoken as well therefore I must point out that you don't really know much about yourself." he lowered his eyes to appreciate the outfit she had today, while he saw a cute pink top over black short leather shorts, inwardly he imagined her naked and his smirk was as naughty as his thoughts.

There was a reel on Caroline's answer because all the agitation happening in the big house up the road was robbing all her attention.

"Someone is missing." Klaus said next to her.

Caroline startled a bit with the sudden move. "That's the Fairy house…" she clasped her lips itching to know what happened.

A police car arrived and Davina came out of it visibly crumbled by tears and fatigue, a woman with red hair waited for her at the gate and took her inside trying to comfort her.

"I'm waiting for Tinkerbelle." Klaus notified Caroline.

Caroline smiled with the joke. "I just like calling them that but there was a party last night in the Bayou and they were the ones hosting it."

"It could be speculation but I don't believe it ended well."

"I'm with you on that..." Caroline's tone changed instantly when two women arrived at the house.

"Who am I looking at?" Klaus was looking ahead but he was surprised when Caroline's hand suddenly began to stroke his neck and her body leaned in against his like they were having an easy affectionate moment.

"The one with the big tattoo is Sophie and the other one is her sister Jane-Anne." her voice was coldly neutral unlike her hand that dissimulated her trick to stay invisible to the sisters. "They are the Elder Witches, harbors of all the great spirits and ancestral magic that exists in New Orleans."

There was an evil twinkle in Klaus' eyes and swiftly he laced an arm around her waist hauling her_ really_ close to him. "For precision."

Instead of showing irritation Caroline started playing with the beads on his necklace. "What are they saying?"

"That we form a magnificent couple." he smirked.

Caroline lifted her eyes to him with a big scowl. "Are they talking about last night?"

"Someone called Monique disappeared from a party alongside with her coven."

Caroline stopped her hand movements on his neck.

"They've been looking for them unsuccessfully." Klaus reported what his outstanding hearing allowed him, as he did so, he could see Caroline's mind searching for answers but sadly she was about to stop his own trailing process.

"Stop feeling my ass Nik." she gave him a perky ultimatum.

"Perhaps it would be wise to address me as the rest of the world knows me, it would be somewhat hard to explain Marcel the usage of Nik instead of Klaus."

"Sure." she shot all too quickly and putting space between them.

The hastiness made him doubt if there were some feelings there that were a tad damaged by his observation. "I wouldn't by any chance just created a small rift between us…"

"I'm late for school Klaus." she left with a smile that was as ambiguous as they came.

And for some reason it felt strange to Klaus that she would so.

* * *

The sudden light on the screen of her phone deviated Bonnie's attention from the really interesting lecture and she reluctantly read the message from Caroline.  
Bonnie frowned when she found out that Monique was missing but on that second she only expected the girls to be lost in the Bayou, the image of Monique freaking out and yelling for help while dodging all the wild life in the swamp made her smile and she locked her phone entertained with it.

Trying to get back to her scholar activities Bonnie put away the phone but alas the big lecture was over and everyone started talking and standing up.  
Bonnie hadn't made that many notes but she still tried to see how much usage the lecture had been, she was not expecting to find scribbled nonsense on her pad.

**_St. Anne's Church  
_**  
On the page there was a location scribbled over and over and Bonnie grimaced deducting that she was having visions again.  
If only she could make anything of them...

The library was her refuge and she went up to the fourth floor expecting some silence and peace, for some time now that the other students respectfully left the big table after the row with the all the books related to occultism reserved for Bonnie and her coven.  
But Katherine and the others weren't here as much as she was and Bonnie dropped her bag on the table dreading the horrible memory, like blood rushing through her veins the small movie replayed naturally in her mind.

She was always here with him.

* * *

_Six months earlier_

Bonnie chewed on her pen trying to translate the last part of the Hebrew passage, she was stuck on a sentence that made absolutely no sense to her and she trapped that pen harder between her teeth wishing that wisdom came with the flavor of plastic invading her mouth.

"Your cuteness is like the hottest thing I've ever seen." A gorgeous boy with beautiful blue eyes and a killer smile sat next to her.

"Being hot is Kat's department." she smiled at him. "I run the _socially awkward with a strange sense of humor_ department."

"Hey, I dig weird." he threw his hands in the air with a big smile.

Bonnie looked down with a coy blush. "I'm not _that _weird."

"You're perfect." he leaned over cupping her chin so he could lift her eyes to him.

"How was game night with Matt?" she barely kept her eyes on his, although they had been dating for almost a year now she still felt nervous around him like the first time they kissed.

"Definitely Sports is not my thing and I spent all night thinking about you."

That really made her smile and Bonnie kissed him happy that he felt the same way. "I have something for you…" she took something from her bag, it was a silver chain necklace with a pendant and she proudly placed it around his neck.

He touched the pendant besieged, it had the coven's symbol. "Bonnie…"

"I spoke to the others and they all feel the same way as I do, you are a part of this coven so we're just making it official."

"I've never been part of anything before." his voice betrayed him, he was moved about the meaning behind the gift.

"You are one of us now Kaleb." her eyes sparkled in a special joy and nothing but love.

* * *

Bonnie held back a sniffle, how could so much change in such a short time?  
She went from having the perfect boyfriend to not hearing from him at all, when she went to the Sophie with Caroline, she told them that he hadn't crossed over as a spirit which meant that he wasn't dead but still none of the location spells worked.

Bonnie's only guess was that he was staying away from New Orleans for some very important reason, and he surely would explain in it all in detail when he returned.  
Yes, because in Bonnie's mind there was no doubt that he was coming back one day.

She refused to believe otherwise.  
She was also tired of all the mopping so nothing like fondling over written pages to cheer her up, with that in mind she tried to pick something from her private compilation.

That was the biggest advantage of working in the library, it allowed her to keep some of the books she liked in the part of the library that was never visited.  
She was undecided between two books but almost knocked everything to the ground when Katherine showed up next to her with a hurry that wasn't normal.

"I found something!" she whispered in the same sprinted way that she neared Bonnie.

"Would that be my heart?" Bonnie complained about the scare.

"That's a very good analogy, especially considering that I was talking about Kaleb." Katherine made sure they were alone before she carried on. "I broke into his room again."

Bonnie widened her green eyes worried. "This is getting out of control Katherine."

"I knew I missed something the other night, there is no way that Kaleb wouldn't leave a clue or a hint of what he was up to when he disappeared." Katherine handed Bonnie the proof.

It was a picture of her with Kaleb and Bonnie looked at Katherine hoping this was going somewhere good. "So you went through his pictures…"

"That was inside of his Grimmoire so it obviously meant a lot to him." Katherine turned the picture around so that Bonnie recognized Kaleb's handwriting. "It's an address in Baton Rouge, I already checked."

"And you already have a plan don't you?"

Only Katherine would have such a crooked smile as a reply.

* * *

Caroline easily went around the cops scavenging the Bayou, they were sticking to the usual routs which meant that they would never find the missing girls and unlike them she knew exactly where to start looking.  
The NOLA police and their dogs were moving away from the river while she was rushing there.

Just after the abandoned cabins there was an old stone bridge that she eyed for a few seconds before crossing, everything in New Orleans was symbolic and paved with invisible lines that very few crossed, the area she was now stepping into was forbidden for a reason.  
No one came here unless they wanted to die at the teeth of the feral creatures that lived in this dark part of the swamp and though she wasn't scared of them, she was respectful enough to stop when the first large wolf showed up curious about the visitor.

Caroline waited without taking another step and in silence, just behind that first grey wolf, another two big ones slowly came out of the dense forest and began to pace around her, sniffing her scent and ready to attack at any instant.  
She remained still until they shied away because a shirtless tall dark-haired young man came from behind the trees, he touched the head of one of the wolves quietly ordering the pack to step down.

"Hey Tyler…" she smiled at him.

He returned the smile but added a small kiss on her cheek. "You look beautiful as always Care."

She rolled her eyes playfully at him. "And you ran out of shirts? I can get you new clothes if you need them."

"It was a lively night, I just shifted back."

Instantly she knew he guessed why she was here. "Do you know what happened to Monique and the others?"

"It wasn't us." he was assertive.

"But did you hear anything?"

"The party was loud but they kept it by the Witch House… I did hear someone running through the woods close to dawn and it sounded like they were being chased but it was far from here."

Caroline nodded thoughtful but at least now she knew that the coven wasn't eaten by Tyler's pack.

"Caroline…" Tyler called out with an ear on the surroundings. "You need to go, there's someone close by…"

She turned away fast and rushed back to where it would be safe to be found, in case Marcel or his men were around.

She hadn't walked that far from bridge when she came face to face with someone. "Klaus." she wasn't exactly expecting _him_.

"Running with the wolves love?" he couldn't be blunter.

She clutched the long strap of her bag. "Are you getting your kicks by following me around?"

"I'm new in the city and I don't have that much to entertain myself while I wait for a stubborn witch to undo this bothersome curse of mine."

"Take the tour to Lafayette Cemetery, it's a hit with the tourists." she simply walked past him.

"I'd like to focus on the problem at hand first." he went after her easily.

"I need a big natural energy source to draw the power similar to what was used to awake your werewolf gene." she kept on walking.

"I deduce you are referring to the full moon."

"Or hope…" she sighed when he materialized in front of her.

"Maybe we could stick to things that I can actually touch and kill, _feelings _is not my favorite subject."

Caroline half-smiled. "I wouldn't have guessed it, Klaus."

"I'm not willing to wait four weeks for the full moon." he made clear how impatient he was by austerely eyeing her.

"Then I want a big ass diamond." she delectably smiled at him.

Klaus had this small profound breath. "You meant _Hope_."

Caroline pressed her hands and made this dreamy sound. "The biggest diamond known to mankind and the best friend of a witch."

"My brother Kol was a big aficionado and he told me once that the diamond has been gone astray for centuries."

"I'll make a list of activities so that you don't get bored for the next four weeks." she provocatively left with a slightly tilted head and a teasing smile.

"I can always get a second witch opinion." he struck back with a smile that she wasn't seeing. "The city is swarming with prevailing witches."

Caroline laughed without facing him. "Matt Donovan is the best White magic warlock you'll ever know, Katherine Pierce is the most potent Black magic sorceress this place has ever seen while Bonnie Bennett is the only alive witch in the world that we know off that can balance Grey magic perfectly." she suggested a few names for him.

"What about you sweetheart?" he was truly inquisitive about her.

Caroline turned but never stopped walking. "Me?" she shrugged with a grin. "I run with the wolves."

Klaus found it hard to decide if he enjoyed the flirt as much as he enjoyed her refreshing personality.

* * *

Katherine stopped the car in front of a massive white house, the driveway and the property around it was from a former plantation and she exchanged a look with Bonnie.

"I'm just waiting to be chased away with a shotgun." Bonnie shrunk her bad feeling into a sentence.

"A little adventure never hurt anyone." Katherine quickly left the seat of her red Corvette.

The two girls went up the steps of the porch with growing frowns as this strident noise of loud music hit them.

"This scares me more than unsettling silence." Bonnie admitted as they reached the front door.

Katherine had to agree with her as she pushed the door that was already cracked open.  
The music was louder as they went inside the house and then things just got weirder as they encountered a girl bouncing down the long staircase.

"Hi." The girl cheerfully addressed them. "Are you here for the party?"

"I feel overdressed for it." Katherine sneered as another girl came down the staircase wearing the same as the one talking to them, nothing but a laced set of black lingerie.

"Oh, he's very easy going about that, you can keep your clothes on if you want, he really likes watching us undress anyway." The girl left them at ease.

"I want to go now." Bonnie whispered next to Katherine who just went up the stairs dragging her by the hand.

They found so many girls wearing obvious expensive lingerie with garters and all that the last step into the room where the noise was loudest was taken warily.

Bonnie was the first to freeze with an invisible punch that hit her right in the stomach, a couple of girls were dancing with each other a few feet away from the sofa.  
And in there, sitting comfortably with a girl giving him a lapdance was Kaleb, with a bottle of Dalmore in one hand while caressing the hot girl on his lap with the other.

"Kaleb?" It was like Katherine was still processing the image and only now naming it. "Why the hell are you having a lingerie orgy?"

Bonnie felt so sick that she had to look away but her eyes landed on some random girl wearing a tiny silk robe, and on her neck was the silver necklace she once gave Kaleb.  
Katherine could do very little to stop Bonnie from storming away heartbroken but she wanted to kill the moron who had the audacity of looking at them like he didn't even know them.

"Give me a minute darling." he asked the girl on his lap to move so he could stand.

"We've been waiting for news all this time and you were just living your Hefner fantasy all along?"

"I was…" he narrowed his eyes like he was thinking about his answer. "… taking a leave of absence."

Katherine inhaled with a growl. "There is a special ring of fire in hell reserved for those who hurt Bonnie Bennett." she hissed furious leaving the sad show behind, he wasn't even worth killing but she still forced him to fly across the room and hit the wall brutally before she crossed the threshold.

* * *

Marcel knew how to throw a party, Klaus gave him that.  
Torches lit the alley all the way to his house, the main outer balcony was filled with people dancing but the scenario repeated itself on the floor by the courtyard fountain filled with Champagne bottles at everyone's reach.

Klaus identified Marcel's men at once but he didn't know all the unfamiliar girls dancing with them, although he was familiar with the slight lethargic gaze they all had.  
He looked for Marcel among the partying crowd and easily spotted him dancing with some pretty blonde but it was extremely unfair for everyone at the party to expect him to find them remotely sexy when Caroline was here.

She was dancing with the boy from her coven and looking enticing with every single move she made, the bandage strapless dress made her curves mesmerizing but her smile outshined everything else.  
Matt twirled her around and she happily crashed against his chest with a bubbly attire that stole a smile from Klaus.

"See anyone that you like?" A guy with a big hairdo asked him.

"I don't require compelled company." Klaus parched the conversation completely.

The vampire wasn't happy and he didn't like either that Klaus left him standing there like that.

"It's a party Diego, you need to smile." Marcel arrived in a good mood.

"I don't like your friend."

"Easy Diego…" Marcel asked him. "You don't want to lose your head tonight."

"And I don't like the way he looks at Caroline." Diego warned Marcel.

At first Marcel found him hilarious but once he was alone he had a better look at the party, he drank his beer happy with the way Caroline was having fun but there was an emerging dent on his easy smile.  
It lasted only a few seconds but he caught an exchange of stares between Klaus who was heading inside the house and Caroline who danced sexily with her back against Matt's chest but undeniably offering the tiny show to someone else.

He grabbed Thierry's shoulder and pulled him away from a girl and into a blind spot in the courtyard.

"Something on your mind?" Thierry laughed but clearly Marcel was not joining him.

"I want you to follow Caroline tomorrow, from dawn till dusk and I want you to call me every hour with a detailed report."

Thierry found the order odd but he never questioned Marcel, with a nod he accepted his new assignment.

* * *

"How did you pull off such a good party in only two hours?" Matt pulled Caroline back up to him after a swift dipping movement.

"I'm so used to these that all I have to do is tell Marcel to buy the drinks and put the music on." she said laughing through the loud music.

"I see that this is the equivalent of a frat party for you." Marcel interrupted the friend's talk but also the dance by asking Matt for Caroline's hand.

Matt sweetly kissed her temple before leaving her with Marcel.

"I've seen some sick things in college, drugging a girl and compelling her isn't that much of a difference." Caroline wasn't as naturally joyful when she took his hand.

Marcel sighed. "They need to feed Caroline and the tourists don't remember anything after the crew sends them away."

She wasn't going to start a fight that she kept losing. "Did you hear about Monique?" she asked instead.

"Yes…" Marcel lifted her arm so that she could spin around and welcomed her back into his carriage with an icy smile. "Davina was telling everyone that she saw a shape shifter when she was looking for her friends."

Caroline kept her eyes on his chest level.

"I think they were smoking something really strong last night because that's impossible, there are none left in this town." Marcel pierced her with an intense look.

Caroline looked up apprehensive and still silent.

"Because I know that you wouldn't dare to lie to me like that." he smiled showing his magnificent white teeth.

She gulped down.

"That would be me in reality." Klaus calmly but strongly said.

Marcel looked at the man nearing them. "What do you mean?"

"I shifted last night in the Bayou so the girl must have seen me." Klaus didn't look at Caroline although he could feel her glancing at him surprised.

"It's all just a bit more conspicuous now." Marcel gritted his teeth a bit but forcefully found a way to smile again. "Just that Klaus… you can't go around shifting like that. There are rules in my city and these rules keep the supernatural city running without a problem, and there are no exceptions." he shifted his eyes to Caroline this time.

"You need a chill-pill Marcel." she scoffed leaving the two men behind.

"Wise words as I've ever heard them." Klaus smirked amused.

"You are a guest in my home Klaus but not a resident and this is my family so stay out of it." Marcel harshly hissed.

"Me… me … me…" Klaus took an imposing step towards Marcel. "And I thought that I liked the over usage of the word _I._"

Marcel defied him with a glower.

Klaus smiled defiantly. "You wouldn't have a home and a family if it wasn't for me so feel free to apologize anytime now for the impertinent attitude."

Marcel quietly snarled while the party slowed down to a big silence, the vampires were expectant because they sensed the growing hostility.

"I accept long emotional letters as well." Klaus said inches away from Marcel's face, when Diego tried to step in to defend Marcel's honor, Klaus turned around biting his neck hard. "Rule number one Marcellus..." Klaus moved only his head to look at him. "Don't make rules that can be so easily abolished."

Marcel helped Diego up knowing that Klaus was waiting for him to go beg for blood now and that really pissed him off.

* * *

"What will it be?" the bartender asked as soon as Klaus sat at the bar.

"Your oldest Dalmore." Klaus asked reminiscent.

"Straight, I presume?" The man returned with a beautifully colored Scotch.

"And the bottle as well." Klaus compelled the man.

The alcohol was exceptional and it hit his palate like a work of art exploding inside of his mouth, he was thoroughly enjoying his drink when a set of heels sounded all too familiar to him.

"_Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine._" Caroline took the stool next to his.

"That's an old reference sweetheart." he squinted at her struck that she liked _Casablanca_.

"Turns out there's a twist and I like old things." she cutely held her chin high and the indistinct connotation behind her statement.

He obviously took it the way he wanted. "I like you too Caroline." he had a sip from his drink. "It's an astonishing accomplishment that you turned out so extraordinary considering how you were raised by Marcel who turned out so insipid and obsessed with his rules."

"He always said that I was high-maintenance."

"Only a fine lady in the makings."

Caroline adorably gave a little spin in her stool. "If you are going to keep dropping the compliments at least buy me a drink."

Klaus motioned the bartender near them. "Anything that the cheeky lady requires."

"What will it be gorgeous?" the bartender asked with a chuckle.

"An empty glass, he's sharing."

Klaus poured scotch into her glass with a flirting look that lowered to the long legs that crossed in front of him. "Are you the distraction or the begging bait to cure Diego?"

Caroline moved her eyebrows together lost. "I left the party with Matt before you did."

"In that case, enjoy your drink." he had his after a big smile.

"Wow... that's smooth for whiskey." she really liked the scotch.

"It was Kol's favorite drink in the world." Klaus poured beverage for himself as well. "No matter the scenario, even when he was in some remote location, he always had a bottle of Dalmore with him."

"You really miss him." Caroline warmly said.

"I hated the annoying prick." he let out a small sad smile.

Caroline came a little closer to him. "What did you do to Diego?"

"I had the munchies..." he said with dimples.

Caroline burst into laughter, she covered her mouth but her body was shaking with laughter.

"You will not be grieving him?"

Caroline played with her empty glass. "He's one of those who think that no isn't a full sentence." when she spotted how hard Klaus was thinking about it she smiled resting her chin on her hand. "You were my first vampire, I had never been with one before."

He smugly smiled. "That's hybrid, love."

She ran a hand across her leg. "So that's what we were doing? Hot, hybrid sex?"

His tongue gained a life of its own licking the rest of the scotch from his lips. "You have a gift for accurate words."

She flirted openly with him while moving her index along the rim of her glass. "And you have one for listening."

He answered her flirt by leaning in a bit and filling her glass again, his eyes invited her for a dance that she was happy to accept.

"Thank you for not telling Marcel about Tyler…" Caroline kept her voice in a low genuine tone.

"Why is he living in solitude?"

"Tyler was my first love." The recollection was sweet and it made her eyes shine. "It didn't last but we remained really good friends until he triggered his werewolf gene and his obligations with the pack took off around the same time mine with the coven did." she dropped her easiness almost entirely. "The werewolves were the biggest opponents of Marcel and the free life he granted his vampires so a war started between the two factions. The fights were horrible and I was about to lose people on both sides that I really cared for so when Marcel came up with a plan… I said yes."

Klaus held back his drink intrigued.

Caroline's voice lowered just like she was confessing a crime. "The werewolves were cursed to remain in their wolf shape with the exception of that one night when the full moon happens."

"It must be a Romani characteristic." Klaus mumbled ticked off.

She had her drink with an apologetic look.

"How did your friend Tyler turn out immune to the curse?"

"I lured him to a place outside the city and then I trapped him inside of a house with magic until the main spell was completed. When it was all done, he still chose to return and hide in the Bayou looking after his pack."

"I don't feel that special now that I know that you have secrets with someone else as well." Klaus sulked.

She laughed lusciously which was always amazing to see and their smoldering dance carried on, when she pushed the glass on the counter towards him Klaus refilled it and his hand brushed her leg, telling her that he wanted to touch her.

Caroline reached for her glass but wandered two fingers to his hand. "Are you really that scared of getting attached that you don't want me to call you Nik?"

"You are still hiding behind the assumption façade sweetheart and I will not let you discern two sides of me so easily unless you show me something worthy of it."

Caroline grew closer to him. "Are you talking about my magic?"

"I've seen nothing so far praiseworthy or concrete."

Her hand trailed his arm up to his neck that she tickled with soft fingers, she leaned even further on her stool and sneaked a hand under his jacket, although he frowned a bit she smiled upon resting her hand over his heart.  
The strangest fever started erupting from where she was touching, like his blood was being set on a slow burning fire, then without explanation he felt a prickly wave of pain that eased when he exhaled.

When he breathed in the pain expanded to his entire rib cage, the fever became stronger and with a final writher he felt the blood flowing, hastening to reach his heart.  
Klaus closed his hand around the bottle reacting to the twinge, shocked he stared at her as his heart started pounding inside of his chest, it lasted for a few seconds but he truly felt it.

There was blood pumping inside of his chest and feeding his heart with energy that made it beat strongly and alive.  
His breath became hollow and his eyes changed into this deep yellow coloring, Caroline had deep steady breaths but she was floored by the way he looked so regal and beautiful.

She broke the spell weary and slumped against his body the tiniest bit, he made sure she was secure by supporting her with a hand on her back.

"You're really powerful…" she whispered with a hasty breath, a few more seconds and she would have been drained and unconscious.

"Likewise love." he still felt his chest prickling.

She closed her eyes for a few seconds finding a blazing blue wonderland when she opened them again. "Will you shut up about my abilities now and trust me that I can do this, that I can break your curse when I am ready to do it?"

He didn't answer, he didn't want to form words and expel them out of his mouth, he wanted to occupy his lips with something else and rarely Klaus didn't do what he wanted.  
He crashed her lips for a dominant kiss that was welcomed by her, their tongues blindly met like two lovers missing each other and then their bodies followed the same need.

Caroline melted against his chest, his hand outlined her back until he reached her ass and Caroline's knee nudged him between his legs as she shifted in her seat.

"You should flash me out of here before I start filtering my thoughts…" Caroline's hand peeked inside of his shirt thrilled to feel his body again.

He countered the hand on his waist with a hand that rested on her lap just inches away from the edge of her short dress, itching to touch the arousal he could smell enveloping all of his senses. "I seem to have promised to forget where you live." he moved his hand to stroke her bare skin.

Caroline bit her lip moving her legs an inch apart so that he could caress the inside of her thigh. "You own a bed, don't you?" she moaned when he joined his lips with hers again.

* * *

Caroline dropped her head back overwhelmed with the blissful way he was slowly kissing her neck, moving languorously to her collarbone and then enjoying all the roundness of her breast.  
Her fingers became a knot with his hair reacting intensely to the lips savoring all the area around her nipple before it got hard enough for him to nibble upon.

Klaus was sitting against the headboard while she sat on his lap and his hands were roaming her back meanwhile he was attentive to that precise sensitive area with his mouth, his palms became flat on her lower back to bring her closer to him.  
By doing so Caroline felt him hard and ready against her damp warm core, her body was aching to have him and she decided to move things along because Klaus was definitely enjoying the slowness of everything.

The slight shift of her body against his, the way her hips made her sway so that she stroked his erection without taking him in made him finally leave her breast so that he could kiss her instead.  
She greeted him with a tongue that was hungry for his and while the fiery kiss lasted his hands moved to her breasts, cupping them entirely under big powerful hands that squeezed them merely to mess with Caroline's breath.

But she was not leaving things like that, she was still trying to win dominance in a kiss that was commanded by him, when she scrapped the back his neck with her nails there was the faintest forfeit that she took with power as well.  
Caroline redrew from his tongue and swept his palate instead, meanwhile her right hand stroked his chest, her touch was unhurried and she felt him playfully wait for her next move.

With a decisive motion she pushed his tongue back into his mouth while mapping his rib cage, he was still caressing her breasts but the kiss was halted when her hand lowered between them, his hands steered to the side of her body accompanying Caroline's next motion.  
She raised a few inches from his lap finding the right angle for his access when she lowered again, she closed her eyes taken by the sensation of her body nesting him so perfectly inside of her.

Klaus nudged her lips with the tip of his tongue so she met that invitation with a teasing tongue on her behalf and for a minute all they did was tease each other with almost kisses until her body demanded that she did something about the rest.  
After two slow sways the momentum rose to a continuous flawless swing that made him hiss and had Caroline moaning loudly without stopping her rocking back and forth movements.

The back of his neck was red with her marks and Caroline rested her forehead against his, their lips met for another kiss and feeling how close she was Klaus trapped her lower lip for a gentle bite.  
Before it all consumed her entirely, Caroline made a beautiful arch with her back and stretched her legs changing their position, she locked her legs around his waist leaving the control on his side now.

Klaus smiled at the beautiful creature in his bed, every detail about Caroline right now was fascinating.  
The milky-white complexion, the long dazzling hair scattered on his sheets, the satisfaction showing on her beautiful features as his hand pressed her lower back while he penetrated her deeper than she had taken him before.

The sounds escaping her parted lips grew of intensity and so did his rhythm, his thrusts came as he held her a bit above the mattress, the hand still pressing her lower back was keeping her that way very conscious of the pleasure he was providing her but he was also careful, an ounce of more pressure and he would break her spine in two.  
Caroline's legs went tighter around him, just like her walls reacting to the hot position he chose for them, her nails started to dig into the hand resting on her hip, keeping her in place every time he invaded her deep and hard.

Klaus' scratched hand eased on his grip of her hip, his necklaces started to glue to his sweaty chest and he forced his teeth hard watching her with closed eyes and overtaken by bliss, she was a beautiful canvas that jerked under him when she came.  
But unexpectedly for him Caroline wasn't basking in aftermath delight and that drowsiness that would end their night after such a powerful release from her.

Instead she was pressing herself against him while her legs remained locked around him, she was recovering from her rush of energy in her own terms but she was unwilling to let him go so soon.  
It was a simple jolt spiking his lust for her and Klaus allowed her to lay down on the bed completely by taking his hand away from the crook of her back while he found his way inside of her more powerful than ever, the thrusts weren't harsh but they caused her to cry out because of his precision and because he wasn't being slow.

The screams followed one another and although he didn't stop, he still cupped her face softly.

"Am I hurting you Caroline?" he asked her ready to stop by her command.

Caroline's screams weren't covered in pain, they were almost liberating. "God… no Nik… I don't want you to stop…"

She just wasn't used to experiencing so much pleasure or as it was, liking sex so much.  
Klaus' pace still waned a bit, he brushed her cheek with his thumb, just before he kissed her lips once.

Between that kiss and another he pushed into her knowing the scream would be lower and he was undeniably right, her eyes were clasped enjoying it all but she wasn't the only one unfamiliar with the intensity tonight.  
Klaus gripped the wood at the bottom of his big classical style bed, his thrusting rhythm had a pulse that left her panting but Klaus felt his control slip away because of the way her skin felt against his, she really became one with him, he crushed her against the mattress but Caroline pressed him down on her with her hands on his back refusing to know where she started and he ended.

The screams were gone and he thought that she had replaced them with a few groans until he realized he was the one grunting and howling in pleasure while Caroline moaned his name between throaty difficult gushes of air.  
He pushed until he felt her trembling but the shudder was so strong that he then noticed he was pulsing along with her, coming undone along with her as if they were one.

Caroline tiredly stroked his sweaty hair when he rested his forehead against her damp neck and he kissed her there feeling spent, the wood had given in under his grip and Klaus let go of that broken piece rolling over to lie on his side.  
He closed his eyes out of breath but Caroline's erratic breath was harder to bring back to normality than his and when he looked at her she was shivering harder now that his heat was taken away from her.

With ease Klaus slid a hand under her shoulder plates and scooped her body closer to him, he was resting on his side and sheltered her carefully against him so that his warmth would cover her entirely.  
Caroline brought her arms closer to her chest hiding inside of his strong shield and she remained like that until there was nothing but warmth soothing her.

* * *

"Maybe we shouldn't be doing this." The kid who was left behind whispered.

The other two laughed making fun of him.

"What if we get caught?" he asked his friends frightened.

"By a ghost?" One of the kids joked.

The scared one nodded. "The church is haunted, my mom says that some priest was hexed and when he finally lost his mind he set fire to the church with a bunch of people in it."

The duo standing in front of the door mischievously raised their arms and made spooky sounds, the other one stopped talking but he knew he was right, St. Anne's Church was closed for years now, it had been restored but the popular belief that the place was haunted stuck and eventually they closed the church again.  
Every now and then people still heard the desperate yells of those who died that horrendous night.

The two brave kids laughed opening the door and they all sneaked inside the church using the flashlights that they stole from their parents, one of them carelessly shed light at the altar and the three of them started yelling scared.  
They dropped the flashlights and ran away screaming, there were four girls hanging from the ceiling with ropes around their necks, and they were all wearing black skirts, black socks and shoes and white shirts.

* * *

**Soundtrack:**

Superheroes – _The Script _

Wild Place – _Glass Pear _

How do you feel today – _Gabrielle Aplin _

Sente – _Buraka Som Sistema_

Requiem for Blue Jeans_ - Bastille _

Drunk in love – _Ed Sheeran _(Beyonce cover)


	4. Damsel

"He will be with you soon." Josh left Marcel waiting in the big foyer crossing paths with Klaus who was still sliding a Henley down his torso.

"Your rules should include a dress-code." Klaus was nauseated by the grey summer scarf around Marcel's neck.

"You've only been here for two days and already you've disrespected me in front of my crew, made fun of my rules and hurt one of mine." Marcel was definitely grouchy.

"The possibilities of what might happen until we reach the weekend go from annihilation to showing my docile side." Klaus smiled with malice as he picked up a glass and dripped his blood into it after biting his hand.

"What do you want in exchange for that?" Marcel asked the obvious question.

Klaus rested the glass next to him on a table. "There was a little spat between us but it's nothing that we can't work our way around."

"Every minute that we waste in these theatrical riddles of yours, it's a minute less that Diego has, so really Klaus, go straight to the point."

"When did you become so serious Marcel? You were always the fun one."

"I took your vision Klaus and I made something worthy out of it, I surrounded myself with supernatural people who were willing to die for the same ideal and I managed to do in less than a decade what you couldn't for 10 centuries. I built a loyal family."

"And I applaud you for it."

"Name the price on your blood." Marcel demanded with tension in his voice.

"I just finished remodeling the house and I'll be organizing a party tonight for a special guest." Klaus had this small movement with the upper part of his body like he was weighed down. "And since this is your land and apparently I need permission to breathe while I'm here…"

Marcel parted his arms with a big smile. "You are my maker, the blood that thickens my veins comes from you so what is mine is yours as long as you remember that the Quarter is _mine_."

"Can I bring a friend to the party mommy?" Klaus lowered his chin scorning Marcel.

Marcel considered it in silence.

Klaus took the glass with his blood and held it between them. "I reckon your friend has about 10 minutes before he starts to cough his lungs."

Marcel reached out for the glass. "Good thing we have a party tonight to celebrate his survival."

Just as Marcel was about to turn away Klaus called him out. "By the way Marcellus… I'm quite intrigued by Caroline, she's a very assertive young lady yet she has never been interested to find out about her mysterious past?"

"We are all trying to run away from it Klaus."

Klaus rolled his eyes. "Please go away, your negativity is borderline loathsome. For some reason all kings look so unhappy in all the illustrations."

Marcel left with a big fake smile.

Only then Caroline came out of her hiding point in the corridor. "Diego was just a ruse for a shallow party?"

"Witty mind games make me happy."

Caroline had two small steps before stopping, symbolically she was waiting half way wondering if he was still interested after another lively night of sex. "You're like this big quirky kid who likes to poke things just to see a reaction."

He took one step closer leaving only a tiny space between them. "Marcel stubbornly forgets that I have no tolerance for smug idiocy when I am the wrecking ball in the room."

Caroline didn't take her eyes away from his a single second as he cradled her face strongly in his hands.

"However the prevailing topic this morning is how much I enjoyed last night."

"My resistance was damaged by that strong Scotch that you were drinking."

He circled his arm around her waist and had Caroline pinned against him with a single move. "I don't accept excuses sweetheart, I wanted you and you wanted me. And now I have a broken bed and an irresistible desire to kiss you. "

"I can only help you with one." she whispered with a smile.

Klaus kissed her deeply, the memory of their night was still fresh and perhaps that would explain why the lust for her was still so powerful, grant him the choice and he would have her naked and moaning again.

But Caroline broke the kiss in discomfort. "You taste like blood…"

"You should get used to it." Klaus stroked her face expectant for her reaction.

She put space between them. "I need to go before Marcel gets back and finds me here." she turned away with a small smile.

Klaus didn't stop her but his good mood was altered by her hasty departure.

* * *

"Care?" Katherine shouted into the house.

_"In here."  
_  
Katherine found her in the bedroom getting dressed after a shower, she sat on the bed sipping on her coffee. "Did you get my message?"

"I can't believe that Kaleb was staying in Baton Rouge all this time, we were worried sick and Bonnie…Ugh!" Caroline closed her lips angrily.

Katherine handed her the top that was lying on the bed. "I know. I wanted to pin his balls to the wall but I thought that would be a bit too dramatic and depressing for the playmates to witness so I just shoved him across the room."

"But why would he do this? He was so in love with Bonnie… none of this makes any sense."

"I always had my doubts about Kaleb…"

Caroline brushed her wet hair with a glance towards Katherine. "Only because you tried to get his attention when he first arrived to New Orleans but he shut you down instantly, so you developed a grudge."

"You know me well." Katherine picked up the really cool jacket that Caroline chose to wear today, when the other reached out for it she smiled.

Caroline took the dark blue slim-fit jacket with a slow motion. "Didn't he even break when he saw Bonnie?"

Katherine shook her head. "It was like he was someone else, he looked at us so cold and indifferent… It was sort of creepy actually, it was like looking at a stranger with Kaleb's face."

"Let's hurry up and go over to Campus, Bonnie needs us more than ever." Caroline grabbed her keys and phone.

"So…" Katherine stood up with a rising grin. "Are you going to tell me how you got a hickey or not?"

Caroline panicked and searched the first mirror she found. "I have a hickey?" she frantically searched her neck and collarbone for any marks but everything was clean of bruises.

"It's barely covered by your bra." Katherine whispered as she walked by Caroline.

She moved her top shocked to find a tiny little bruise. "I'm going to kill that bastard."

"Love marks are the sign of good sex so I wouldn't execute him just yet."

Caroline composed herself and faced the friend waiting for her by the front door. "I met someone…"

"That likes to suck." Katherine chuckled loudly.

"Well…" Caroline crossed the lapels of her jacket covering her chest completely.

Katherine gasped. "You lost your vampire virginity?"

Caroline made this throaty complaining sound for the chosen words.

"This is the same guy from Mardi Gras' night, isn't it?" Katherine just knew it.

"I met this really hot guy and we kissed but then it felt so good to kiss him that I wanted more and I thought that I wasn't going to see him again but then I did and I've been having the sex of my life with him. But Marcel won't be happy about it."

"Marcel is not the owner of your body Caroline."

Katherine didn't care what others thought of her and it was that same lack of judgment that she spared with the ones she kept close to her heart and it really gave Caroline the serenity she needed today. "Our choices are our own." she stated the only rule they had inside their Coven.

Katherine smiled opening the front door. "But I still want a name when you feel ready to share."

* * *

Matt parked in the big driveway with a deliberate delay before exiting his pickup, he was going to keep calm and not lose his temper, he clutched the wheel for a bit, calling upon all that benevolent good magic that existed in him naturally and only then he walked to the house.  
The girls that Katherine mentioned were all outside by the pool having fun but he didn't see Kaleb with them so he paved through the house looking for him.

Easily Matt picked up on a flow of energy and followed it to the floor upstairs, down the hallway he could feel it getting stronger and he came to a room with an open door to find a circle of girls holding hands.  
Matt gradually came into the room watching the scene attentively, unlike the ones outside by the pool this group of girls wasn't here for fun, they were witches performing a ritual and guessing by the pile of human bones in the centre of the circle, Matt deduced they were consecrating the body of some powerful witch.

Suddenly they all stopped murmuring the spell but only one of them spoke loudly.

"His white magic is blocking the ritual."

Matt followed the direction the witch was looking at and Kaleb came out of the dark part of the room.

"What are you doing here mate?" he asked upset.

"I came to ask you the exact same thing dude." Matt harshly answered back.

* * *

"I know that college is depressing for some girls but this is just strange…" Katherine pointed out as they went by another sobbing group gathered by the front gate, it was already strange that they found a few girls in the parking lot crying.

"Maybe Eva knows what happened…" Caroline smiled at one of the girls walking in her direction, Eva was part of Davina's coven but she was one of the few that were actually nice and had a good relation with every other coven in town.

"Hey… have you heard about Monique already?"

"I heard that she was missing." Caroline was evidently waiting for the worst now.

Eva sniffled cleaning a few stray tears. "They found her and the rest of her coven at St. Anne's, they were all hanging from the ceiling." she broke into tears again.

"That's horrible…" Caroline's heart sank with the news.

"I don't know how they disappeared from the party… we were all just dancing and doing silly love spells, then someone noticed that Monique was gone and we all went searching for her but got separated in the woods. When Davina used blue fire to call us all back into the old witch house everyone returned except Monique's coven." Eva was shaking her head. "I think the funeral service will be held tomorrow…" she lastly said before leaving to cry alone.

Caroline looked at Katherine with a sad face but the other was already cringing in anticipation as she spotted a girl with a huge amount of flyers headed her way.

"Oh God… it's coming." she said between teeth.

"We will be doing a memorial tonight to mourn Monique and the others." Davina handed Katherine a flyer.

Katherine refused to take it. "It's a perfect good waste of a candle."

Davina lowered her hand discouraged. "She was one of us Katherine, try to find some empathy."

Katherine breathed in and touched her heart. "No, there's nothing there, it's cold and dead." she smiled.

Davina gave up moving on to hand out flyers to the rest of the students.

"Whose being dramatic now? You or the college girls who hated Monique as much as we did?" Caroline asked right behind Katherine as the other started walking to the dorms.

"It's a very close call apparently." Katherine rolled her eyes when she saw all the flowers and candles already mounting by some random tree where a little shrine was being built for the deceased girls.

"We need to tell Bonnie the news carefully, I'm sure she hasn't left her dorm all day and that she's crying in bed all miserable…" Caroline stopped by Bonnie's door. "We should have brought cupcakes, she likes those."

Katherine opened the door expecting exactly what Caroline just described but they both froze by the threshold because Bonnie was viciously using a scissor on a shirt, when she couldn't get fast enough with it, she destroyed the fabric with her bare hands.

"Bon Bon?" Katherine asked slowly.

"I hate that jerk face!" Bonnie dropped the shirt to a pile of things she already destroyed.

"Care… you need to step in." Katherine whispered when Bonnie screamed enervated and broke a frame by slamming it hard against the corner of her desk.

"That lying, cheating son of a…" Bonnie tore the picture into a bunch of little pieces. "Goat." she said with growing fury.

"Ok, she's cursing…" Caroline had no idea what to do.

"I waited for him, I refused to believe that he left on purpose…" Bonnie screamed again. "I kept making all these excuses in my head because we were in love but that slimy dirt ball was just having the time of his life with a bunch of nude models."

Katherine and Caroline flinched when the pile of shredded stuff burst into flames.

"I hate him and I hate that stupid face of his." Bonnie decisively grabbed the last thing on her bed, the very last gift he gave her before leaving.

She held the big teddy bear that Kaleb gave her as a Christmas present before disappearing and she moved the scissors fast against it, Caroline tried stopping her with a small motion of her body but before she could ask Bonnie to calm down she was already cutting the tummy of the bear, refusing to have any memory left of Kaleb.

"Bye Buttons…" Caroline waved at the cute teddy sad.

Bonnie was just lashing out on the bear and she only stopped because something fell from inside of it, the big thud of metal hitting the floor pulled Katherine and Caroline closer.

"What is that?" Katherine asked first.

Caroline put the fire down with a single gesture and tried to have a better look at what Bonnie just picked up from the ground.

"I don't know… I think it's a… key?" Bonnie turned the big round piece over and outlined a series of engravings on it.

"Kaleb gave you a teddy with a key inside?" Katherine hated how silly she sounded.

"A key for what?" Caroline was unfamiliar with the piece but had a feeling that Bonnie wasn't. "Bon?" she pressed for answers.

Bonnie lifted a hand and a book flew from the small shelve right into her hand. "I think I've seen this before." she handed the metal thing to Katherine while searching in her book for the image she vaguely held in her memory.

Katherine felt the weight of the metal, it was heavy and the energy from it was prickling all the way to her.

"I think that's an Ascendant, it's a mystical relic used to harness the power of an eclipse." Bonnie showed the girls the image of what it would look like open.

Caroline tried opening it unsuccessfully and looked at Bonnie for help.

Bonnie closed the book somberly. "It belonged to Malachai's family. To Kai…" she said the name with hatred.

The blonde handed the key over to Bonnie knowing it was her right to keep it. "Maybe this is what Kaleb wrote about in his diary."

Bonnie didn't answer, she was too ill to define a single cogent thought.

* * *

"Why are you performing a ritual to awake your Ancestral line? I thought you didn't want to make magic that way." Matt confronted Kaleb in the kitchen. "And what's with all the British words? Your two years in England hardly made you a British... or are you just trying to impress the girls?"

Now that they were alone, Matt kept pacing around incredulous and spewing a lot of questions.  
The other warlock kept this sort of annoying smile refusing to answer but visibly amused with the scene.

"Is that why you've been hiding out here all this time?" Matt stopped on that question hopeful.

"I was in plain sight the entire time, _dude._"

Matt lost it with the comment sided by a smirk and punched Kaleb hard.

"Easy Matt…" The other hissed with a strange menace in his eyes while touching his throbbing lip.

It was something that Matt had never seen from Kaleb but maybe he was just hurt. "You are my best friend and you just took off without a word… if all you wanted was to dig into your family roots and magic why didn't you just say so?"

"Why would I choose to be a vulgar warlock when I can be the best?"

Matt fought the emerging will to punch him again. "We were all worried that you might be dead."

"Not for the time being." The other smirked again.

Matt felt sickened, he didn't even recognize his friend right now but he wasn't going to punch him again, at least not before checking his phone that was vibrating with new messages.  
He turned his back on Kaleb to read them and the other picked up a kitchen knife, holding it tightly in his hand he decided to aim at the neck and swiftly get rid of Matt.

"Kaleb… how did you get your hands on the family inheritance of the man who killed Bonnie's Grandmother?" Matt asked barely as he was reading the messages through.

He slid the knife down his hand and hid it under the long sleeve of his shirt. "I don't know what you are talking about." he told Matt as the other turned around to him.

"Bonnie found the Ascendant that you hid." Matt insisted.

"Then perhaps it's time that I go back and… apologize vehemently." he searched for the right words. "I've missed you all so much."

"You have a lot of explaining to do before you even start apologizing for all the crap that you put us through during all these months." Matt wasn't going to give him much slack. "Especially to your girlfriend."

He smiled taking a jacket for the ride. "I can't wait to grovel and make peace with her." he also kept the knife with him, depending on the odds he might just allow Matt to arrive to New Orleans alive.

* * *

"Are you ok?" Caroline asked Bonnie as the three girls went up to the porch.

The house that belonged to Sheila and where Bonnie lived alone until she moved to Campus was always a hard place to return to but she was hopeful to find something useful in Sheila's belongings. "I am." Bonnie sighed.

Katherine and Caroline held their pinkies for Bonnie who took it for a pinky swear, the three of them laughed somewhat silly before Bonnie unlocked the house.

"I missed this house." Katherine said turning the lights on, she used to crash in here so many nights during High School.

"I miss our slumber parties." Caroline sat on the sofa.

Bonnie carried a box to the coffee table, she was reserved about what she missed, the pain of losing Grams was a scar that refused to close.

"Uh, baby pictures." Caroline grabbed the adorable pictures at once.

"You were so cute Bonnie." Katherine slouched next to Caroline.

"My hair was amazing." Bonnie glanced at the picture Caroline was holding but she easily went back to her search. "I found it."

The old Grimoire was pulled out of the box with extreme care, it was a family legacy that Bonnie didn't feel ready to take upon and she opened it with shaking hands.  
Her childhood memory hadn't failed her much and she found the drawing she was looking for, it was the key but it was closed like now and under it there wasn't a spell, just a word in Latin.

**Immortalitas.**

"You definitely have my interest now." Katherine changed places on the sofa and sat next to Bonnie.

"Remember that in Greek mythology those who had immortality didn't have eternal youth." Bonnie reminded her.

Katherine adjusted the steamy top around her tiny waist. "Buzzkill."

Bonnie played with the key, shifting it in her hand curious. "We need to do real research on this..."

"All those books that the Elder sisters took would come in handy now." Katherine almost suggested that they broke into the Elder house.

"I think I know who can help us." Caroline's voice was like a soft hint on something sinful.

* * *

"My house looks progressively more appealing by the day." Klaus greeted the three girls waiting for him in the lobby.

Caroline took initiative to explain the sudden visit. "This is Bonnie and Katherine, they are part of my coven and we stumbled upon something that we need to learn more about but we have a problem."

"One that you think I could solve." Klaus said with a smile.

"We gathered all these really cool and helpful books and we kept them all in the library at Tulane but Sophie and her sister intervened, they confiscated the books because a coven can't be exposed to that much information without permission."

"In other words, they felt threatened by a group of young girls educating themselves about their craft." Klaus easily replied to Caroline.

She made this adorable pleading face. "Can we please ravish your library?"

How could he say no to that?

* * *

"… would it hurt to make a simple call?" Matt turned the radio off, he was too pissed to listen to music.

"I really hurt your feelings there, champion." the other dropped exhausted with the drama.

Matt hit the brakes raging. "Do you know how stressful it is to be the only guy in a coven full of moody stubborn women? Who won't listen and constantly get into trouble? Do you?" Matt insisted.

"I know how it would feel if I was there when there was a pillow fight." he smirked.

"You weren't funny before and you are still not funny Kaleb." Matt started the car cranky.

"_That it should come to this!" _he had a sigh looking outside his window.

"So you took the time off to finally read Hamlet?" Matt sneered. "At least you did one thing right."

He smiled without looking at Matt, the Quarterback unwillingly just earned his chance to live.

* * *

Caroline was trying hard to keep focused on her task but the book was boring compared to the man on the other side of the glass door, he was having a heated conversation with some young guy and Caroline was outlining his body with her eyes.

"It's not hard imagining how hot the sex is when I look at him." Katherine changed the page of her book with flair.

"Huh?" Caroline jolted her head to Katherine.

Katherine lifted her eyebrows a little before changing another page.  
Caroline buried her eyes on her book.

"But I can totally see that he thinks that it was the best sex of his life as well when he looks at you." Katherine smiled without leaving her book.

Caroline closed her book forcefully.

"I love all that wonderful sexual tension that still exists between you and him." Katherine rested the book against her chest so she could eye Caroline instead. "And he totally melted when you batted your eyelashes in the lobby."

"You had sex with Klaus?" Bonnie voiced her puzzlement.

"He can hear you." Caroline said between teeth.

Bonnie leaned over from her red velvet chair. "When did this happen?" she whispered extremely low.

"During Mardi Gras. And last night..." Caroline wasn't sure how Bonnie would react.

"Ok." Her friend simply smiled returning to her research, it wasn't her business who Caroline was entangling herself with, besides she trusted Caroline's choices blindly.

The exact reason why no one really reacted when Caroline left the library and joined the two men outside in the courtyard.

"How do you expect me to know if it's raining tonight?" Josh complained already overwhelmed with the list of things he had to do.

"That's why I sire others to do things for me Josh." Klaus foreshadowed how much the talk was straining him. "I expect things to be done when I ask my minions to do them."

"I'm struggling to get everything on time but I don't know if I should prepare the party outside or not." Josh admitted.

Klaus growled unpleased with the mundane talk.

"Google says that it's going to be a warm night." Caroline tried to ease the mood. "You should set the lights out here but keep the drinks and food inside the house, also don't forget to leave all the connection doors open but lock the rooms because I don't think _he_ will like to share those with the common guests." Caroline whispered to Josh.

He laughed due to her expression but felt soothed at once as well. "Do I strict the guests boundaries to the courtyard or do I set lights all the way to the garden?" Josh asked his new party ally.

"Klaus wants to showcase the new decoration so keep people close to the house, some nice calm music to instigate people to talk and maybe add some waiters to give it a classic touch." she looked at Klaus. "I think you want something casual yet worthy of the Mikaelson name."

He wasn't easily won, yet he smiled and after a few seconds he addressed Josh without taking his view away from Caroline. "Why are you still here Josh?"

"Right! I have a million things to do." Josh ran away trying to remember all the tips Caroline gave him.

"Perhaps I should have handed you the helm of this ship in the morning."

Caroline nodded. "I could plan parties for a living."

"Watch it!" Josh yelled not far from them, he just bumped into someone carrying a bunch of glasses and now half of them were broken.

Klaus closed his eyes and covered them with a hand. "Why am I keeping him alive?" When there wasn't an answer, he looked for Caroline to find her taking charge of the mess.

She easily reorganized the route the waiters were taking with the glasses and kept Josh out of the way, in less than one hour she had his vampires hanging lights that would make these beautiful lines from across the courtyard all the way to the house.  
And before sunset they were all lighting up tiny round candles that were on top of flowers that Caroline personally placed inside of vases with water, there were thousands of them paving the big party area and she grinned happy with the result as she watched the effect from the balcony.

Everything was ready and now she only needed the host to approve of her choices.  
She found Klaus in his bedroom ending a call and dropping the phone on top of his bed.

"Everything is ready for the cocktail party." she sweetly informed him.

"It goes without saying that you and your friends are invited."

"I think I'm going home and change for tonight then, I'm curious about your mystery guest."

Klaus pulled the dark Henley over his head and dropped that one on top of his bed as well. "I've arranged for your dress to be delivered in less than one hour."

She grazed her lower lip with her teeth as he neared her shirtless and losing the belt on the way.

"My friends are down there…" she managed to say before he kissed her.

He kissed her passionately and she really answered him back, there wasn't the faint taste of blood this time around and she mapped his back with a touch that was becoming familiar to both, just like his tongue sweeping hers before redrawing so that she would search for his tongue instead.

"I could attempt to not make you scream so loud this time." he kissed her lips while holding her close.

She narrowed her eyes at him keeping the beads of his necklace between two fingers. "You marked me..."

He followed the same motion her eyes did. "I did?"

"There's a stupid hickey on my chest and I'm not happy about it, I don't like body marks Nik."

Klaus leaned over kissing her lips once. "It's up to me then to make sure it doesn't happen again love."

Her breath picked up as soon as he went around to her back, he moved her hair clearing her neck to him and then kissed her skin slowly, he took the jacket down her shoulders and Caroline closed her eyes as soon as it hit the ground.  
Klaus kept on kissing her neck while his hand sneaked under the top feeling her stomach, he could feel her heart hammering there and it made him smile.

Without hurry Klaus pushed the top up her torso and kissed her shoulder plates as soon as the fabric left the contact of her skin, he brushed a strap of her bra down to clear a path for his lips but his hands moved to the tight Jeans she was wearing.  
Caroline placed her hand over his stopping him as soon as he started unbuttoning her Jeans.

Klaus scratched the skin on her shoulder as he moved to whisper in her ear. "Trust me sweetheart…"

Her breath was hoarse and she was shaking but her hand was still stopping him from going any further. "I don't want to have sex now Nik."

Klaus kissed her cheek just next to her ear. "That's not what I want Caroline."

He wasn't forcing his touch on her or ignoring her hesitations and Caroline faced him to find that unwavering security in him, he gave her a sweet kiss on the lips waiting for her choice and Caroline's hand moved away from his.  
Klaus only unbuttoned the first button on her pants, he caressed gently that exposed skin touching the rim of her panties but without crossing that line, he did however keep on kissing her neck with slow moist kisses.

She moaned loudly when he moved his lips to the back of her neck, he held her hair so that he could kiss his way down to the beginning of her spine, she moaned again when she felt the tip of his tongue licking her there.  
When he moved away from her back she wasn't sure of his plan but undeniably there was a slight cocky appearance when he stood in front of her with a smile and a hand for her to take.

She wished she wasn't shaking so much but it simply wouldn't stop, she also knew she had to do this, she had to find out what he had in mind, if anything Klaus seemed to defy her logic daily.  
Caroline was finally decisive when she took his hand and followed him to the bathroom, when he started getting undressed she did the same.

Klaus admired her like it was the first time he was watching her naked and she was awed by the fascination in his eyes, although she was aware of how pretty she was he was the first to find her so beautiful that she could actually see herself in his eyes.  
Klaus asked for her hand again and they stepped under a powerful spray of cold water, it surprised her that he forgot that she was human and that the water needed to be warm but she wasn't under it for long, he moved his body against hers so that she had to move as well and she ended up with her back against the cold wall of the shower, he pinned her there with his strong body and pierced her with such an intense stare that his eyes almost seemed to fade the blue entirely and become darker.

He rested his forearms on each side of her face and Caroline gulped down beset, from then on he didn't speak, he didn't move, he didn't even breath.  
He just looked at her, like he was still undressing her but going much deeper than the clothes she was wearing, he was aiming at her soul.

And it was in there, in that grave silence, with the water hitting his back, shielding her from it and warming her with his body instead that Caroline understood.  
Klaus was different from anyone she ever met, he was as powerful as she was and he fully embraced it, just like she did, they could easily harm each other but there was a greater will to protect each other because they understood power like no one.

Power protects power.

Klaus smiled when the water started falling warm against his back after Caroline used her magic. "I wonder what you really are capable of."

"I want to show you."

He fell for that sparkling hope in her eyes easily and stroked her cheek wanting a glimpse into what she hid from the world.  
And she wasn't afraid, she was in love with the closeness and started caressing his chest and his neck with care.

"Do you trust me?" he asked her serious.

"I do." she answered with conviction.

"Remember that tonight."

Caroline nodded and kissed him with a passion that she still wasn't fully able to control when she was around him, still inside that shower and for the longest time all they did was kiss.  
When he held her within the reach of his arms, his hands slowly roamed through her naked body and while kissing him the thought rushed to her mind as lazily as their tongues were playing with each other, she really liked being in his arms.

* * *

"The first guests are arriving…" Katherine said upset that she didn't go home and change for the party.

"Go get a drink, you always look great, no one will notice that you aren't wearing your best cocktail outfit." Bonnie assured her.

Well, she was wearing black leggings and ankle boots and the top was one of her favorite with a see-through back in lace. "I'll just snoop around the house while everyone is busy." she sneakily said.

"Or do that…" Bonnie sighed, Katherine's growing delinquency was becoming an issue.

Katherine took a champagne glass as she glided by a waiter. "Pink, my favorite." she dropped as a comment, if only they made it black.

She smiled effortlessly at a couple of people she didn't know and then furtively she rushed up the long staircase, she was excited with a chance to explore the house and she wasn't going to waste it.

The first two doors were locked which plummeted the resolution. "I need to learn how to break a lock."

She moved on to the next door while someone was coming out of another room, it was pure luck that the door was unlocked and she hid inside of a dark room peeking to find Caroline outside, she was about to call her when Klaus showed up grabbing Caroline by the waist and bringing her to him so that he could meet her lips with his.  
Katherine froze her breath and body, he was too busy kissing Caroline and robbing her of air to notice the cracked open door and thankfully the couple moved on downstairs.

She searched for the light switch, since she was inside she was going to find out where she was. "Oh." Katherine said stunned, the room was enormous but the only thing inside of it was a wooden brown coffin on top of a steel structure. "Sure…" Katherine threw her hands in the air. "I like creepy just like any other dark witch." she came closer to the coffin slowly and held the lid ready to open it. "Please don't be something gross that will haunt me to the end of my days." she quietly begged.

With determination she opened the coffin and found a grey body, he wasn't decomposing or with bloody wounds, he just appeared to be sleeping and although he looked desiccated she still found him strangely attractive.  
He had great slick hair and he was wearing a fancy suit and tie, the face was lifeless but she could tell he had one of those strong cheekbone faces.

"Well, hello handsome." she rested her forearms on the edge of the coffin and leaned over to speak closely to him. "You seem to be having a bad day." she looked at the ancient dagger sticking from his chest. "I wonder what would happen if I took that away from your heart…" she was mischievous when she smiled. "Are you this sort of really badass villain or are you my sleeping Prince Charming?"

* * *

Marcel arrived to the party knowing the faces, Klaus invited the big names in the city but he couldn't see him anywhere, he looked at the staircase just as Caroline was coming down.  
Looking beautiful like always in a sleeveless yellow dress while her hair was all straight and glowing tonight, she took a glass for herself and greeted the Dean from her college with a big smile.

Marcel would have signaled her closer but he was forced to pause when shortly after her came Klaus, strutting down the staircase of his house with a beaming smirk.  
Marcel's grip around the glass was so forceful that he broke it in two and had champagne all over his white shirt.

"That's one nasty stain that won't come off easily." Klaus toyed as he approached with a drink in his hand and sauntering a flawless blue buttoned up shirt with black pants.

"If you only knew all the times I've thought of that myself." Marcel grumbled.

"Marcel." Caroline neared them with a heart-stopping smile.

"Hey baby girl, you look beautiful." he easily smiled nonetheless at her.

She cutely pulled her shoulders together. "This is nice…" she took turns looking at both men. "We are all here with great champagne and the house looks so pretty... and we are all here." she repeated awkwardly diving into the champagne in her hand.

"All we are missing is the guest of honor." Marcel took another glass of champagne.

"And right on time he arrives." Klaus announced with a huge grin.

Everyone looked at the door but Caroline's heart stopped beating for a few seconds, Tyler Lockwood just crossed the front door stealing all the attention and almost quieting an entire crowd with his presence.

"An entrance to make so many jealous." Klaus had his drink unaffected by the turmoil he just caused.

* * *

"Tyler?" Marcel grunted furious. "Your guest was Tyler?" he finally roared at Klaus.

The other was calmly enjoying his drink.

Marcel paced around the den like a mad animal. "I was expecting Elijah or even Rebekah but not the leader of the werewolves." he looked at Caroline about to direct his fury at her. "Why isn't he in wolf form like the others?"

"Marcel, please calm down." she asked him quietly.

"You had one task Caroline, to turn them all." His voice grew of tone. "That's the only thing I ever ordered from you."

"And I did it." she defended herself. "I turned them all but… I couldn't do it to Ty…" she knew him well so she expected the outburst next.

"He's the first one that you should have turned." Marcel shouted.

"Calm down." she shouted back at him. "You're making a scene." she lowered her voice.

"Your loyalty lies with me not with the wolves and you've disrespected me by going behind my back and doing what you wanted instead of what was right for our family. I've indulged in every spoiled desire Caroline and I've provided you with the best life anyone from all the six blocks in the French Quarter ever had. I gave you everything while my only demand was that you took a stand in this war."

Caroline lowered her eyes. "I've always done what you asked of me but I always said that my stand was neutral when it came to a war that you started."

"I'm very disappointed Caroline…" he acidly said.

"You are angry and rage is hardening your tongue." Klaus said from across the room. "Perhaps you need a little time before speaking again."

"For the last time Niklaus, stay out of this." Marcel hissed at Klaus.

"I'm not as benevolent to unwise yelling." Klaus warned him.

"I know why you are disappointed Marcel but Tyler is my friend." Caroline tried appeasing things. "And you were a better father than I could hope for."

"If you stand in the middle of a war without picking a side, you will end dead. This is not what I expected from you." Marcel coldly replied.

"I should be allowed to choose my side, which is right in the middle of a barricade that you built to keep me away from my friends." Caroline's tears started to sting her eyes.

Marcel confronted her with a step closer. "This is how you pay me back for all that I've given you?" he asked genuinely hurt.

"What is this really about?" Caroline whispered, trying to swallow her tears.

"He made me." Marcel pointed at Klaus turning the tables on the couple. "He turned me and educated me to be his image, but I outdid him on my own and I knew he wouldn't stand to know all that I've accomplished." Marcel turned to Klaus. "That's why I never invited you to see my empire, because I know you. I know how selfish and sadistic you are, I knew you would arrive here and see everything that I have and instantly want it for yourself. I knew." Marcel raged at Klaus. "Your demented twisted vision of happiness is to steal what others have, you borrow feelings from others because you can't feel them for yourself."

Klaus closed up his expression and forced his teeth together.

"Did you have me followed?" Caroline's voice erupted from behind Marcel.

Marcel only turned his head to her. "You were seen leaving this house in the morning, it's not hard to guess what you've been giving my sire over the night."

Caroline half-closed her eyes making Marcel fly across the room, he hit the wall so hard that all the stuff on the shelf nearby fell to the ground. "I know that you think you have the right to be a dick to me, but you don't."

Marcel was breathing hard and rested his weight on one knee, he sarcastically smiled as he lifted his head. "You've been with Klaus for a day and you think you know him? So well that I'm the one on the other side of your magic instead of him?"

She didn't answer but she glanced at Klaus.  
Marcel stood up looking at the man cautious of his every action. "Let me tell you about Niklaus Mikaelson, he arrives to New Orleans and like a brat instantly wants what I have, I've perfected his dream and he wants it back so what does he do? He goes after the ones closer to me."

Caroline had enough and walked out on the drama, she made it all the way to the staircase when Marcel held her back by the arm.

"Caroline… I need you to see what he's trying to do."

"No." she snapped hauling her arm away from him. "I don't care about the pissing contest that you've got going on with Klaus. God, maybe he even did seduce me on purpose but screw you for looking at me like I'm a weakness." she left him standing there with a lot of eyes on him.

* * *

Bonnie refused the champagne and hugged the pile of books she was borrowing from Klaus closer to her chest, she made a furtive escape that was only interrupted when she saw Matt's car arriving to the street.  
Everything slowed down in her world when Kaleb left the car, her chest clenched in a piercing pain that only grew as he started walking towards her.

"Bonnie…" he opened his arms by the side of his body with a sorrowed look.

"You came back…" she hated how different the scene was from all the encounters she imagined between them for months.

He smiled a little just before he stopped near her and cupped her face. "I'm here because of you." he held her eyes hostage of an intense blazing look. "I'm sorry for having you worried like that, there were some matters that I really had to look into alone."

She was listening but none of it was actually resonating with her. "You ignored my calls and messages for months."

"But you never left my thought." His voice was like velvet, smoothly trying to win her over.

Bonnie looked at him dazed for a second.

He took advantage of that and seductively smiled at her. "And since I know that I haven't left yours, we should end this conversation somewhere private."

Bonnie frowned. "I'm not forgiving you just because you have pretty eyes." she clasped her lips mad and buried her knee strongly in the middle of his legs.

Matt chuckled proud and held the door for Bonnie as she strutted to the car. "I think that you can find another ride home." he told a moaning Kaleb.

* * *

"I'm usually a shy guy, I'm not used to all the attention." Tyler enjoyed his drink by the fountain.

Klaus arrived with a smile because he noticed the two girls flirting with Tyler just a few feet away from them. "The swamp has been your home for the last year, I believe that it's time that you start enjoying life again."

"After I have your word again that my pack is safe."

"I have my best vampires on it and Marcel wouldn't make a move now that you are back by my hand." Klaus guaranteed with a hand stretched out.

Tyler shook his hand as a confirmation of their deal. "Did you do this to ensure the werewolf support or to give Caroline her friend back?"

Klaus looked up at the balcony where Caroline was. "She's not an easy woman to impress."

Tyler laughed holding the drink inches away from his lips. "Caroline is a gypsy, she's always slipping away from our reach no matter how hard we try to hold on to her. Just like her magic, that kind of spirit isn't meant to be kept under control and I'd be really ticked off if you tried to hold her down like Marcel did."

Klaus had his champagne thoughtful while Tyler decided to take a chance with the sizzling duo and by the time Klaus looked up again Caroline was gone.  
He handed the glass to a waiter and headed back inside the house but annoyingly came face to face with Diego.

"Interesting party…" he sounded every bit uninterested in it. "There are too many girls on vervain though and the music choice is crappy but…" he found his smile back. "I do love the rush of your blood man, so thanks for the donation."

"You are most welcomed Diego." Klaus smiled. "Now hand me your daylight ring."

Diego grimaced doing it without resistance.

Klaus admired the ring. "That's such a beautiful symbol."

"It's the same from Caroline's coven…" Diego stared at the ring. "Why did I just give you that?"

"I'm an Original, my blood sires even when it's a loan." Klaus closed his hand around the ring. "Now tomorrow morning, I want you to go have a nice long walk in the sun."

Diego lethargically nodded.

* * *

Caroline faced the fire in the mantel so deeply lost in it that she missed the moment Klaus stopped next to her, she only reacted when he took the glass from her hand.  
She bit her lip with a smile as he dangled a champagne glass with a beautiful flame burning inside of it.

"Were you going to bring the house down with fire?" he asked a tad fearful.

"I should." Caroline yanked the glass from his hand upset. "You threw me under the bus with Marcel." she tossed the glass inside the mantel.

"He was suspicious already and I just jumped a few unnecessary leaps. We need to keep Marcel busy with something else while we focus on what you and I are going to do."

She stared at him blankly, if there were a thousand thoughts rushing through her head he couldn't tell and he, the Immortal and most feared creature in the world was hanging on every breath and word that she was keeping to herself.

Caroline slowly took a decisive step in her peep-toe pumps closer to him. "If you ever use me Klaus, turning every full-moon into a werewolf will be the very least of your problems."

He licked his lips with a smile as she walked away holding all that fire that ignited everything inside of him.

* * *

**Soundtrack: **

Cryin Wolf - _ZZ Ward ft. Kendrick Lamar_

She's so mean - _Matchbox Twenty_

Don't let me go – _RAIGN_

Are you that somebody – _BANKS_ (Acoustic Aaliyah Cover)

Walk - _Kwabs __  
_  
Boom Boom - _Big Head Todd & The Monsters_


End file.
